Rishi Sunak, prime minister of the United Kingdom, on Wednesday eased the transition to electric vehicles by five more years, allowing the British people to buy petrol and diesel cars and vans until 2035.
Post 2035, people in the U.K. will still be able to buy and sell internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles secondhand.
It is the consumer who has to make that choice and not governments forcing them to do so, because the upfront cost is still high especially for families struggling with cost of living and small businesses worried about the practicalities, Sunak says in his address to the nation.
"We have got further to go to get the charging infrastructure truly nationwide," he says, adding that Britain needs to strengthen its own auto industry so it isn't relying on heavily subsidised "carbon-intensive imports" from countries like China.
This comes close on the heels of Munich's biennial auto fair IAA Mobility where the number of Chinese exhibitors doubled this year, underscoring their plans to challenge European carmakers as the world switches to electric vehicles.
The extension of the deadline on the ban of the sale of petrol and diesel cars comes two months after Tata Group said it will invest over 4 billion pounds or ₹42,537 crore to set up a 40-gigawatt battery cell gigafactory in the U.K.
"We have already attracted billions of new investments from Tata Group's JLR gigafactory. I believe by 2030, a vast majority of cars sold will be electric because the costs are reducing, the range is improving and the charging infrastructure is growing," says Sunak.
People are already choosing electric vehicles to such an extent, that Britain is registering a new one every 60 seconds, the U.K. prime minister says. "We're changing the way we reach Net Zero by 2050 to ease the burden on working people. Our new approach will be pragmatic, proportionate and realistic," he says.
Sunak says the new EV transition target is in line with countries like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Canada and Sweden among others.
"As we continue to cut emissions, we also need to make sure we do not lose the consent of the British people facing higher living costs," he says, adding that reaching targets does not need to come unnecessarily at the expense of people facing higher costs.
The U.K. PM says these targets will not require the country to change any of its upcoming emissions targets. "We will continue to meet our international agreements including the critical promises in Paris and Glasgow to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees," he says.
Reacting to the announcement, Ford UK says a relaxation of the 2030 target will undermine the country's transition to EVs. "This is the biggest industry transformation in over a century and the UK 2030 target is a vital catalyst to accelerate Ford into a cleaner future. Our business needs three things from the UK government: ambition, commitment and consistency. A relaxation of 2030 would undermine all three," says Ford UK chair Lisa Brankin.
"We need the policy focus trained on bolstering the EV market in the short term and supporting consumers while headwinds are strong: infrastructure remains immature, tariffs loom and cost-of-living is high," Brankin says.
