The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned in the UK from 2035.
An earlier plan to phase out non-hybrid petrol and diesel cars between 2030 and 2035 has been shelved.
However, the government will still introduce the ZEV Mandate on 1 January 2024. This dictates a minimum EV mix for each manufacturer’s annual sales.
In 2024, each car brand must sell 22% electric vehicles, rising to 80% by 2030. If they fail to meet it, they will be fined £15,000 for each car over target.
Therefore, like it or not, British motoring is going electric.
A growing number of manufacturers have announced plans to stop selling petrol and diesel cars ahead of the 2035 ban. We reveal the story so far.
Aston Martin – 2030
In a recent Financial Times article, Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll said the company will continue to build internal combustion engines well into the next decade. That said, it will build its first EV in the UK from 2025. Everything points to the ability to buy an Aston Martin with a petrol engine until legislation says otherwise.
Bentley – TBC
Bentley will switch its entire model to offer exclusively plug-in hybrid or battery electric vehicles by 2026, and pure electric vehicles by 2030. This sees it move from being the largest producer of 12-cylinder petrol engines to having no internal combustion engines within a decade.
BMW – TBC
BMW Group told us it expects fully-electric models to account for at least 50 percent of global deliveries by 2030. The company will have 13 all-electric models on the road from 2023, with at least one all-electric model offered in approximately 90 percent of the company’s current market segments. The BMW Group includes BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce.
DS Automobiles – 2024
DS Automobiles has announced it will only sell electric cars from 2024. The French marque’s electric range is currently limited to the DS 3 E-Tense crossover, but a new EV with a promised 400-mile range is on the way. The pivot to EVs will come six years ahead of the UK government’s 2030 deadline.
Ford – 2030
You’ll almost certainly be able to buy a Ford with an internal combustion engine right up until the 2030 ban, but the company has laid out its path to zero. By mid-2026, 100 percent of its passenger car range will be zero-emissions capable, all-electric or plug-in hybrid, moving to pure electric by 2030.
Honda – TBC
Honda recently announced that it wants its range to be 100 percent battery or hydrogen powered in major markets by 2040. It also intends to offer solid state battery technology in its new EVs by the late 2020s.
Jaguar – 2025
Jaguar is to be reinvented as a pure electric car brand by 2025 with a “dramatically beautiful” range of new cars. CEO Thierry Bollore told Motoring Research his personal car is currently a Jaguar I-Pace. “It is a great car… we have plenty of ideas to make it even better.” Sister company Land Rover has confirmed that it will launch six pure electric variants in the next five years, with the first all-electric model arriving in 2024.
Kia – TBC
Kia told Motoring Research it’s too early to say when it will sell its last internal combustion engine in the UK, but the company is already set to meet its 95g/km emissions target this year. The company’s EV portfolio includes the e-Niro, Soul EV and forthcoming EV6.
Lotus – late 2020s
Lotus will shift to being an all-electric brand by the late 2020s. This is according to a quote from CEO Matt Windle published on the Automotive News Europe website. The decision was made in 2018 after positive feedback. “We took the decision to go straight to EVs after the Emira, which was already in development,” he said.
Mazda – 2030
Mazda told us it does not intend to cease UK sales of petrol and diesel cars ahead of the 2030 ban. It says it believes ‘a multi-solution approach that combines different technologies is the best way forward to reducing CO2 emissions. Electrification is a key pillar within Mazda’s multi-solution approach and by 2030 all Mazda vehicles will be electrified in some form. While electric vehicles are important to reducing CO2, we will still need internal combustion engines to power the majority of cars today and in the coming years.’
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz says it will launch three new electric cars in 2021. However, the company is unwilling to comment on any plans to stop selling petrol and diesel cars ahead of the 2030 ban.
MG – TBC
MG sells two EVs: the ZS EV and MG 5 estate car. It told us there’s no plan to cease petrol and diesel sales ahead of the ban, but that an early move to 100 percent electric wouldn’t be a ‘surprise’.
Mini – 2030
Currently, the only pure electric Mini you can buy is the Mini Electric, but everything looks set to change. The last Mini with an internal combustion engine will arrive in 2025, before the company goes fully electric by 2030. New pure electric versions of the Mini Hatch and Countryman are scheduled to launch in 2023.
Nissan – TBC
Nissan says all its ‘new vehicle offerings’ in key markets will be electrified by the early 2030s. “We’re determined to help create a carbon-neutral society and accelerate the global effort against climate change,” said Nissan CEO Makoto Uchida. The company hasn’t confirmed if it will stop selling petrol and diesel cars before the 2030 ban.
Renault – 2030
Renault told us it will stop selling petrol and diesel cars in the UK in 2030. There’s no word on whether the date will be brought forward.
Smart – now
Smart is ahead of the game, having switched to all-electric power in Europe and the USA. Mercedes-Benz and Geely have already unveiled the Smart #1 electric SUV, which has now been followed by the Smart #3. Daniel Lescow, Smart’s vice-president of global sales, said at the time: “It may come as a surprise to some: Smart will enter the market with a fully electric SUV – spacious yet compact. This will be the first vehicle of the joint venture between Mercedes-Benz and Geely, built in China.”
Suzuki – 2030
Like Mazda, Suzuki has no plans to stop selling cars with an internal combustion engine ahead of 2030 and already offers a 100 percent hybrid model range with one plug-in hybrid model available. Suzuki stopped selling diesel engined models in the UK in 2017 due to limited demand.
Tesla – now
There’s no need for Tesla to adjust its sales strategy, because the American company is 100 percent electric. The current range includes the Model 3, Model S and Model X, with the Model Y likely to arrive in the UK next year. The compact SUV is expected to offer 314 miles of electric range.
Toyota and Lexus – TBC
Toyota said it was ‘probably a bit too far forward to provide any definitive response at this stage’. By 2025, the company will offer more than 70 electrified vehicles, including at least 15 pure electric cars.
Vauxhall – 2028
Like DS, British brand Vauxhall is part of the Stellantis automotive empire. It says all the vehicles in its range will offer electrified versions by 2024, then be fully electric from 2028. The Ellesmere Port factory in Cheshire, previously home to the Astra, is shifting to EVs as well – starting with the new Combo-e LCV van.
Volkswagen – TBC
“In the year 2026 will be the last product start on a combustion engine platform,” VW strategy chief Michael Jost told an automotive summit in 2018. A spokesperson confirmed that the German giant will focus on electric cars instead. This doesn’t mean that VW will stop selling petrol and diesel cars ahead of the 2030 ban, but it paves the way for a radical move.
Volvo – 2030
Volvo’s electric strategy dovetails with the UK’s ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars. The company says it plans to be fully electric by 2030, phasing out any cars with an internal combustion engine, including hybrids. “To remain successful, we need profitable growth. So instead of investing in a shrinking business, we choose to invest in the future – electric and online,” said Hakan Samuelsson, Volvo chief executive.
THATS ALL GOOD STUFF BUT I USE A VAN WHATS HAPPENING WITH REGARDS TO VANS NOT A WORD ABOUT IT SOFAR.
I HAVE A EURO 6 ENGINE IN MY 2016 VW TRANSPORTER CAN I DRIVE THIS INTO THE ZONE? OR DO I HAVE TO PAY THE £15.00?
I LOOK FORWARD TO YOUR REPLY.
WITH BEST WISHES RICHARD
Just so sad that so many manufacturers have been suckered into the scam. CO2 does not cause climate change. There is no need for this totally impractical shoving of EVs down people’s throats. Just where is the EV equivalent of the 1 gallon spare fuel can going to come from? That is just one of the really really major drawbacks to this shakedown.
Rubbish article, can’t even keep a consistent date for the ban throughout it. That just makes me doubt everything else it says…….
what happens to people like me, living on a low income or pension. I couldn’t even afford the increase in the insurance let alone the cost of buying an electric car. We are being forced of the road, a good few of us rely on our cars to get about. I for one can only travel short distances on a bus as I suffer from travel sickness and have done all my life,
Can anyone tell me where all these E.V’s are going to be parked and charged over night, plus how about all the commercial vehicles that travel long distances, they will be breaking down blocking motorways as they run out of charge, service stations could never cope.