UK to ban sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030

Date for ban is five years earlier than pledge made by prime minister in February

The sale of hybrid cars and vans will be banned from 2035 in Britain. Picture: Adam Peck

Britain has confirmed it will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2030, five years earlier than previously planned, as part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson is casting as a “green revolution” to cut emissions to net-zero by 2050.

Mr Johnson, who is grappling with Europe’s most deadly Covid-19 crisis, Brexit trade negotiations, and the departure of his most senior adviser, wants to underscore his green credentials.

Britain last year became the first G7 country to set in law a net-zero emission target by 2050, which will require wholesale changes in the way Britons travel, use energy, and eat. The new date for a ban on new petrol and diesel cars is five years earlier than the 2035 pledge made by Mr Johnson in February.

The plan offers £582m (€649m) in grants for those buying zero or ultra-low emission vehicles to make them cheaper to buy, which was welcomed by auto industry group SMMT. Under the plan, the sale of hybrid cars and vans will be banned from 2035.

Meanwhile, leading German carmakers welcomed the Berlin government’s €3bn scheme to help shift to low-emission cars, but BMW said more charging stations were needed. 

British electric van startup Arrival has agreed to merge with CIIG Merger to get a US listing at a market valuation of about $5.4bn (€4.5bn).