Labour underneath stress to delay 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles with EU primed to push again its deadline
Labour is under pressure to delay its 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars now that the European Union is set to push back its own target.
Brussels is reportedly preparing to announce that its ban will be delayed by five years to 2040.
German chancellor Friedrich Merz, whose country is a key car-making nation, has been pressing Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, to ease the 2035 crackdown, due to fears that it would hit struggling economies.
Tim Tozer, UK chairman of insurer Allianz Partners and former head of Vauxhall UK, Mazda UK and Mitsubishi Europe, told the Sunday Times: ‘I have it on good authority that the EU is going to make the date 2040.’
In doing so, European nations would allow conventional petrol and diesel passenger cars to remain in showrooms for a decade longer than the UK.
As such, questions will be asked if Britons are being treated unfairly in the push toward electric vehicles.
But Department for Transport officials are said to have told UK car manufacturers that the 2030 deadline would not be adjusted.
Brussels is reportedly preparing to announce that its ban will be delayed by five years to 2040 – a full decade later than sales of new petrol and diesel cars will be outlawed in Britain
‘In November, electric vehicles accounted for one in four cars sold.’
Labour currently intends to outlaw the sales of entirely combustion engine-powered cars at the end of the decade in a transition to EVs that’s being guided by the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
This requires car makers to sell an increasing share of zero-emission cars each year, with the target for 2025 set at a 28 per cent share.
Next year, that threshold rises to 33 per cent and by 2030 the requirement for car makers will be that four in five (80 per cent) of all UK deliveries are electric.
Hybrid cars – which use both a combustion engine and a battery – will make up the remaining 20 per cent of the market, with provisions put in place for these cars to remain on sale until 2035.
While UK-based car makers export three-quarters of their out – with Europe the biggest market of all – the decade difference in deadlines outlawing the sales of petrol and diesel cars means car makers will effectively need to run twin production lines to meet demand both at home and abroad.
The EU’s expected decision to push back its deadline to 2040 comes as the US, the second-largest market for British-made vehicles, is also plotting to reverse policies that encouraged the switch to EVs.
President Donald Trump is expected to scrap pro-EV plans introduced by Joe Biden that he claims have driven up costs and prices while making cars ‘much worse’.
The ZEV mandate outlines annual sales target to accelerate the shift to EVs over the next decade. Car manufacturers are required to sell an increasing share of zero emission motors annually, rising from 28% in 2025 to 80% in 2030. Failure to achieve these targets will result in fines of £12,000 per car below the required threshold.
Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: ‘For the UK to be a decade ahead of the EU in its eco-zealotry would be damaging to our automotive industry.
‘The quicker that Labour rein in Ed Miliband, the better.’
Tory transport spokesman Richard Holden added: ‘Labour’s panicked policy [is] drowning in ideology that punishes motorists.’
Andy Palmer, former chief executive of Aston Martin, told the Telegraph that it was ‘seemingly inevitable’ that the EU would push back its 2035 deadline to 2030, given the strength of lobbying from its influential automotive sector.
However, Mr Palmer, who is now chairman of battery-technology company Ionetic, decribed the decision as a ‘huge mistake’ for which European car makers ‘will pay dearly’.
He told the paper: ‘You cannot put that genie back in the bottle. Insulating markets either by legislation or tariffs means that, through the laws of Darwinism, the Western manufacturers will not be the fittest and may not survive. China is already technologically years ahead.’
Last month, Chancellor Rachel Reeves put in place new measures to recoup losses in fuel duties incurred by the accelerated switch to electric cars.
Rachel Reeves recently announced the eVED pay-per-mile tax on EVs for 2028. It will see electric car owners pay 3p per mile. Industry bodies have warned it will stunt demand for new battery cars
Latest industry figures shows that sales of new electric cars had already slowed to their lowest point in almost two years amid rumours that Reeves would announce the controversial plans in November
In her Autumn Budget, she announced a pay-per-mile electric Vehicle Excise Duty (eVED) will be introduced in April 2028.
EV owners will be charged 3p per mile, while plug-in hybrid owners will pay a reduced rated of 1.5p.
Annual payments will be determined by mileage estimated given by drivers, which will be audited by MOT tests.
Drivers and the wider motoring industry have slammed the decision, saying it will strangle EV demand at a pivotal time.
Latest industry figures shows that sales of new electric cars had already slowed to their lowest point in almost two years amid rumours that Ms Reeves would announce the controversial plans in November.
Registration figures for the month show that while EV uptake rose 3.6 per cent in the month, this represents the smallest growth seen in nearly two years.
EV market share hit 26.4 per cent in November, only just ahead of the 25.1 per cent achieved in the same month in 2024.
For the year to date, just 22.7 per cent of all new car deliveries are electric – significantly short of the 28 per cent ZEV mandate target.
Reeves also confirmed a further £1.3billion investment into the Electric Car Grant – a discount-based scheme offering up to £3,750 off the price of ‘affordable’ EVs priced up to £37,000 in a bid to drive sales.
