The planned 2030 ban on sales of some new hybrid cars in the UK is set to be relaxed by prime minister Keir Starmer, it has been reported.
This could mean any new electrified cars (mild hybrids, hybrids and plug-in hybrids) could continue to be sold until 2035, when all non-electric cars are to be banned from the UK's new car market.
According to a Whitehall source quoted by The Telegraph, “everything” is on the table following warnings that any restrictions on hybrid car sales could hurt investment by ZEV mandate-chasing car makers in the UK amid waning EV sales growth.
At the end of 2024, the government proposed new laws that, at their most extreme, would limit per-car CO2 emissions to 115g per kilometre from 2030.
This was in response to worries that existing laws would allow larger hybrid cars to remain on sale post-2030 despite being less environmentally friendly than some pure-petrol cars that would be banned.
Despite that intention, the proposed law would have killed a number of popular models, from the Ford Puma and Volkswagen Golf to the UK-built Nissan Qashqai, prompting car makers to push back.
Along with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), they are lobbying the government to give “recognition of the role that all technologies – including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen – have to play in decarbonising road transport, as either stepping stones towards, or full delivery of, a zero-tailpipe-emission market by 2035”.
The SMMT has also called on the government to match the cash being invested by the car industry if it's serious about achieving its ZEV mandate targets. This year, car makers must hit a 28% EV sale mix or face heavy fines.
“Manufacturer investment has meant ten times as many drivers are going electric compared with just five years ago,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes. “This is great progress but, with the right support for consumers, we can go beyond current expectations to put a total of more than two million new EVs on the road by 2028.
“Government investment to convert the electric sceptics would energise business across the country far beyond just the automotive sector. Every stakeholder would benefit from the impact of consumer incentives which, when combined with binding targets for charge-point roll-out and more flexible regulation, would create a virtuous circle of rising demand that stimulates green growth.”
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