Britain 'to ban all petrol and diesel vehicle sales

Britain 'to ban all petrol and diesel vehicle sales by 2040'
Sales of new cars and lorries that rely on fossil fuels will be outlawed in a bid to reduce pollution

Emily Beament, Harriet Agerholm Tuesday 25 July 2017
The Independent


Measures set to be included in a court-mandated clean air strategy on Wednesday


New diesel and petrol cars and vans will be banned from 2040 as part of efforts to tackle air pollution, the Government is expected to announce.

A £255m fund is expected to be unveiled to help councils speed up local measures to deal with pollution from diesel vehicles, as part of £3bn spending on air quality.

Yet critics said the 2040 ban was "too little too late", with the Liberal Democrats calling for new diesel sales to end by 2025.


READ MORE
Government taken back to court for third time over air pollution plan
The Government is set to include the measures in a court-mandated clean air strategy due to be published on Wednesday, just days before the deadline set by the High Court.

The expected move to ban petrol and diesel vans and cars follows similar plans announced in France this month and amid increasing signs that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating.

On Tuesday, BMW announced plans for an electric Mini to be assembled at its Oxford plant while earlier this month Volvo unveiled its moves towards cleaner cars.

The Government was ordered to produce new plans to tackle illegal levels of harmful pollutant nitrogen dioxide after the courts agreed with environmental campaigners that a previous set of plans were insufficient to meet EU pollution limits.

Despite government efforts to delay publication of the plans until after the general election, ministers were forced to set out the draft plans in May, with the final measures due by July 31.

It is thought ministers will also consult on a diesel scrappage scheme to take the dirtiest vehicles off the road.

Campaigners have demanded the final plans should include government-funded and mandated clean air zones, with charges for the most polluting vehicles to enter areas with high air pollution, as well as a diesel scrappage scheme.

Their calls for charging zones were backed up by an assessment published alongside the draft plans which suggested they were the most effective measures to tackle nitrogen dioxide, much of which comes from diesel vehicles.

But ministers have been wary of being seen to "punish" drivers of diesel cars, who they claim bought the vehicles in good faith after being encouraged to by the last Labour government on the basis they produced lower carbon emissions.

They favour local measures such as retrofitting buses and other transport to make them cleaner, changing road layouts and even altering features such as speed humps and re-programming traffic lights to make traffic flow more smoothly to reduce pollution.

The expected move to ban diesel and petrol cars and vans by 2040 comes after similar plans were announced in France this month and amid increasing signs that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating, with BMW announcing plans for an electric Mini and Volvo unveiling its moves towards cleaner cars.

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France has banned petrol and diesel vehicles on the road altogether now, funny how britain takes a longer time

France has banned petrol and diesel vehicles on the road altogether now, funny how britain takes a longer time

its from 2040 mate...same as the proposals here.

France has banned petrol and diesel vehicles on the road altogether now, funny how britain takes a longer time

They might have banned them but perhaps someone should tell the drivers of the 1000's of cars and trucks I saw there.
Are the French not applying the laws?

It doesn't come into force in either country until 2040!

It doesn't come into force in either country until 2040!

yes it says that in the article

This is a joke, right? This is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard, manufactures only going to make electric cars and scrap every vehicle in the country, surly its not April 1st. this is absolute bollux, they may ban all cars and trucks from cities, but the whole economy would grind to a standstill, it will never happen
I just realized its an EU directive

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

This is a joke, right? This is the most stupidest thing I have ever heard, manufactures only going to make electric cars and scrap every vehicle in the country, surly its not April 1st. this is absolute bollux, they may ban all cars and trucks from cities, but the whole economy would grind to a standstill, it will never happen
I just realized its an EU directive

in 23 years time our government intend to stop the SALE of new vehicles that depend on fosil fuels.
nothing been said about banning pre 2040 cars from our roads.
besides with most manufacturers now making electric cars with improvements year on year the chances are the ban will be pointless as the market will have already moved away from fosil fuels.

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

there is no list though..
its the Sale of new vehicles...not planes or lawnmowers or cigarette lighters..
use of fosil fueled vehicles on our highways will no doubt come in to it even further down the line.
as for things like F1 if you lokk into it i think youd be surprised at the huge improvements in EVs over the last few years. its not impossible that they will one day be electric too..
Porche mission E. will do 0 -62 in 3.5secs...has a range over 300 miles...and a recharge time of 15 minutes.

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

there is no list though..
its the Sale of new vehicles...not planes or lawnmowers or cigarette lighters..
use of fosil fueled vehicles on our highways will no doubt come in to it even further down the line.
as for things like F1 if you lokk into it i think youd be surprised at the huge improvements in EVs over the last few years. its not impossible that they will one day be electric too..
Porche mission E. will do 0 -62 in 3.5secs...has a range over 300 miles...and a recharge time of 15 minutes.

Well said mate.
Some people on here!! Makes you wonder how they manage!!

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

look on the bright side-wheres the middle east gonna get all their money from.

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

Formula racing is ok as already run formula E and it is not slow! As for other vehicles well guess the plan is take out majority of fossil fuels (cars) and so reducing omissions to more exceptable levels? But will rest of world tag along as the yanks don't seemed to be bothered about climate controls!

I wonder where the government will get its £billions of revenue from then? No tax from petrol/diesel. I guess the tax on electricity will just have to rise dramatically to compensate!

Going to have to make big improvements to charging times or nobody will be able to move with the queues of cars waiting to use charging points. Not a 2 minute job like filling up with petrol at the moment, and the present range of around 150 miles is not exactly brilliant either. I suppose advances will be made by then, and no doubt some people will get rich on the back of all this.

How do we produce all the extra electricity we need to run theese vehicles without damaging the environment even more?.

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

look on the bright side-wheres the middle east gonna get all their money from.

Boom! There's the silver lining!

Going to have to make big improvements to charging times or nobody will be able to move with the queues of cars waiting to use charging points. Not a 2 minute job like filling up with petrol at the moment, and the present range of around 150 miles is not exactly brilliant either. I suppose advances will be made by then, and no doubt some people will get rich on the back of all this.

they have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years and now that most of the big manufacturers are involved and take it seriously you can expect that to continue.
personally i dont see the necessity of this announcement as market forces will dictate anyway.
bit like announcing in 1997 that from the year 2020 the sale VHS recorders will be banned.

How is this going to effect F1 and Speedway in sports ??? Bet Lewis Hamilton is happy he will not be racing in 23 years time

Also what about planes ??? NO More flights to anywhere in the world or do they use a different fuel ???

Can't wait to see cabbies having to say - "It's going to be 4-5hrs to London " - Going to stop for 2hrs to charge the car up !!!

Same with the bus - Not sure about the trains No more petrol lawnmowers The list goes on ....

This Country

look on the bright side-wheres the middle east gonna get all their money from.

they will just all come over here and sign on the dole mate.

Top Gear - Will Never be the same for you petrol heads

I think a big problem with a lot of people's responses to this announcement is they have either not investigated the current technology of EVs or are relying on information from equally uninformed sources.

We already have electric cars that will go for 300 miles on a single charge. The technology exists. The stumbling block is the cost of the battery unit. But that cost has already plummeted in a few years and is only going to drop further with increased demand. Home charging us already fine. Plug it in overnight and it's charged by the morning. The stumbling block is charge time. But that itself is already being heavily worked on.

That's all assuming that sodium ion tech or other new chemistry doesn't appear in the next few decades.

Mobile phones were rubbish when they first appeared but we can't live without them now.

Performance is already fine. Most electric cars can pop along at 70 on the motorway and accelerate fine from a standing start.

Also hybrid technology may well be around. A simple electric drive chain and scooter motor hooked to a generator can power a quick decent sized car for 70 miles on a 5l tank (BMW i3 range extender). Compare to how far 5l will get you with direct propulsion from the engine and there are significant fuel economies with minimal emissions. That's based on today's technology. Petrol is actually very efficient at generating electricity. Much more than creating direct propulsion.

Do I love classic and powerful cars? Absolutely. But for a daily driver you aren't going to use that routinely. Also the running costs for even a small petrol car are pretty high especially as mileage increases.

I can't see where the fear should be. We have plenty of time for the car manufacturers to improve their already reliable technology.

Progress doesn't have to be scary.

I think a big problem with a lot of people's responses to this announcement is they have either not investigated the current technology of EVs or are relying on information from equally uninformed sources.

We already have electric cars that will go for 300 miles on a single charge. The technology exists. The stumbling block is the cost of the battery unit. But that cost has already plummeted in a few years and is only going to drop further with increased demand. Home charging us already fine. Plug it in overnight and it's charged by the morning. The stumbling block is charge time. But that itself is already being heavily worked on.

That's all assuming that sodium ion tech or other new chemistry doesn't appear in the next few decades.

Mobile phones were rubbish when they first appeared but we can't live without them now.

Performance is already fine. Most electric cars can pop along at 70 on the motorway and accelerate fine from a standing start.

Also hybrid technology may well be around. A simple electric drive chain and scooter motor hooked to a generator can power a quick decent sized car for 70 miles on a 5l tank (BMW i3 range extender). Compare to how far 5l will get you with direct propulsion from the engine and there are significant fuel economies with minimal emissions. That's based on today's technology. Petrol is actually very efficient at generating electricity. Much more than creating direct propulsion.

Do I love classic and powerful cars? Absolutely. But for a daily driver you aren't going to use that routinely. Also the running costs for even a small petrol car are pretty high especially as mileage increases.

I can't see where the fear should be. We have plenty of time for the car manufacturers to improve their already reliable technology.

Progress doesn't have to be scary.

I wonder what the plans are for people living in for example terraced houses in the valleys. If you plug your car into the house, will there be people tripping over all the cables that will be draped over the pavements. People living in apartments may have a problem as well. I suppose somebody will already have thought of a solution, just not heard it mentioned yet. I imagine the electricity companies are looking forward to it. Be interesting to see if it will be on the same tariff as household electric, and what the charges will be for electric for cars once there are no alternatives. Not that I need to worry, be too old to drive by then.

Steve. As a declaration of interest I do drive an electric car. I do NOT have off street parking thus the ability to charge at night. Not presently anyway.

I manage by charging at work where we have an external socket and I use the motorway fast chargers at the services whenever I need a boost up. I have 130 miles so I only actually need to charge it at all every 3 or 4 days.

We have destination chargers in all the multi storey car parks, some of which are free. Others may charge a pound at most.

We absolutely need more infrastructure. Without question. I imagine we will have a lot more investment in slower destination chargers. Sockets at work places and then probably rapid chargers at places like drive through restaurants and cafes. Petrol stations will have them too. It is indeed a different way of thinking. Absolutely manageable.

It's also SIGNIFICANT cheaper to upgrade charging infrastructure than to swap to hydrogen cells and th associated costs for supplying that. That however May in time change.

Steve. As a declaration of interest I do drive an electric car. I do NOT have off street parking thus the ability to charge at night. Not presently anyway.

I manage by charging at work where we have an external socket and I use the motorway fast chargers at the services whenever I need a boost up. I have 130 miles so I only actually need to charge it at all every 3 or 4 days.

We have destination chargers in all the multi storey car parks, some of which are free. Others may charge a pound at most.

We absolutely need more infrastructure. Without question. I imagine we will have a lot more investment in slower destination chargers. Sockets at work places and then probably rapid chargers at places like drive through restaurants and cafes. Petrol stations will have them too. It is indeed a different way of thinking. Absolutely manageable.

I know very little about electric cars, and I am sure that there will be a lot of advances over the next 20 years. Nor sure how long it takes to charge a car, but at the moment my local petrol station has nine pumps and I sometimes have to wait a few minutes for one to become free. I usually fill up about once a fortnight. Obviously, if all cars were electric I assume that this petrol station would not be able to cope as I believe it takes a minimum of 15 minutes (I may be wrong) to charge your car. At the present time, most electric cars would be paying more regular visits to a charging point than a petrol car visits a petrol station. I can see how there is not a problem today as there are so few electric cars around. I am just wondering how the system will cope with millions of them on the road.
I have nothing against this cleaner form of transport, and as I said previously it is almost certainly not going to have any effect on me. I am just curious as to what will be required to make this work, and anything that may be in the pipeline to speed up charging times and increase the capacity of batteries.

Diversity of charging network. Destination chargers at car parks in town for example. Ones dotted on tb street. Wireless charging. Free charging stations at home. Migration away from the need I "go to a petrol station to fill up".

I've only used a rapid charger 4 times but my car has travelled 3000 miles since I've had it. Almost all th charging has come from work and car park chargers. The fuel pump is anywhere you can plug in.

Going to have to make big improvements to charging times or nobody will be able to move with the queues of cars waiting to use charging points. Not a 2 minute job like filling up with petrol at the moment, and the present range of around 150 miles is not exactly brilliant either. I suppose advances will be made by then, and no doubt some people will get rich on the back of all this.

they have come on leaps and bounds over the last few years and now that most of the big manufacturers are involved and take it seriously you can expect that to continue.
personally i dont see the necessity of this announcement as market forces will dictate anyway.
bit like announcing in 1997 that from the year 2020 the sale VHS recorders will be banned.

Exactly it is a bit of a non story really. In other news in 2040 virtually nobody will be still using CD's!

Steve. As a declaration of interest I do drive an electric car. I do NOT have off street parking thus the ability to charge at night. Not presently anyway.

I manage by charging at work where we have an external socket and I use the motorway fast chargers at the services whenever I need a boost up. I have 130 miles so I only actually need to charge it at all every 3 or 4 days.

We have destination chargers in all the multi storey car parks, some of which are free. Others may charge a pound at most.

We absolutely need more infrastructure. Without question. I imagine we will have a lot more investment in slower destination chargers. Sockets at work places and then probably rapid chargers at places like drive through restaurants and cafes. Petrol stations will have them too. It is indeed a different way of thinking. Absolutely manageable.

I know very little about electric cars, and I am sure that there will be a lot of advances over the next 20 years. Nor sure how long it takes to charge a car, but at the moment my local petrol station has nine pumps and I sometimes have to wait a few minutes for one to become free. I usually fill up about once a fortnight. Obviously, if all cars were electric I assume that this petrol station would not be able to cope as I believe it takes a minimum of 15 minutes (I may be wrong) to charge your car. At the present time, most electric cars would be paying more regular visits to a charging point than a petrol car visits a petrol station. I can see how there is not a problem today as there are so few electric cars around. I am just wondering how the system will cope with millions of them on the road.
I have nothing against this cleaner form of transport, and as I said previously it is almost certainly not going to have any effect on me. I am just curious as to what will be required to make this work, and anything that may be in the pipeline to speed up charging times and increase the capacity of batteries.

Apparently, the new Nissan has a 300 mile capacity and batteries are amongst the most rapidly improving pieces of technology going. Can you imagine the improvements in 20 years?!!
For everybody who says - how is this or that going to happen - well I'm sure it's been thought of already.