Petrol and diesel car ban UK 2040: everything you need to know

The UK Government has announced that it is planning to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040. The move comes as a part of its policy to tackle the rising levels of air pollution, and the adverse effect that this is having on the health of citizens.

According to a paper published in 2016 by the Royal College of Physicians, pollution causes at least 40,000 deaths per year in the UK. The Government’s estimates but the economic strain of air pollution at £27.5 billion a year.

A Government spokesman has said: “Poor air quality is the biggest environmental risk to public health in the UK and this government is determined to take strong action in the shortest time possible, that is why we are providing councils with new funding to accelerate development of local plans, as part of an ambitious £3 billion programme to clean up dirty air around our roads.”

The full paper is due to be published Wednesday 26 July, but excerpts have been released in advance. There are a number of things that you need to know about how this policy is going to affect you, so here we’re going to round up the essential information.

What is being banned?

If the policy is successfully implemented, the sale of petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2040. This includes hybrid vehicles, so you won’t be able to purchase any vehicle that gains even part of its power from a combustion engine.

What is unclear is how this will affect the second hand car market. The policy is easy to picture in terms of new vehicles, but if the policy meant that even private sellers couldn’t sell cars that run on fossil fuels, it would mean that people are left owning a vehicle, potentially worth thousands of pounds, that they are unable to sell.

What happens to my car?

Don’t worry, this policy is not banning the ownership of petrol and diesel cars, so if your car that you currently own is still running by some miracle in 2040, it won’t suddenly become illegal.

There is expected to be a targeted scrappage scheme, so there is the possibility that you will be financially incentivised to make the switch to an electric vehicle. Although what that will look like is currently unclear.

It is currently unclear whether there will be a point where it will be completely illegal to drive a car containing a combustion engine.

Why 2040?

When you think about the lifespan of a current car, 2040 does seem quite far off. There is every possibility that by that date, the adoption of electric vehicles will already be fairly widespread so there isn’t a sudden shift.

Speaking to The Guardian, Prof David Bailey, an automotive expert from Aston University said: “The timescale involved here is sufficiently long-term to be taken seriously. If enacted it would send a very clear signal to manufacturers and consumers of the direction of travel and may accelerate a transition to electric cars.”

So by implementing a ‘cut-off’, it could help to direct the market towards the cleaner vehicles. It’s actually a relatively conservative timeline, considering that some major manufacturers have already indicated their intentions to move towards this future before 2040. Volvo, for example, is already planning to go all-electric as early as 2019 (although that does include hybrid vehicles).

2040 is also significant as it’s the year that France has set for the exact same policy. Norway, by contrast has set a target of 2025. Other countries that seem to be mulling the idea of a phase-out policy are India, Germany and The Netherlands.

Going electric

If you’re thinking that there aren’t currently enough charging stations for all the new electric cars that are going to be on the road, the Government is planning on investing £100 million into the UK’s charging infrastructure, so expect to see more of the charging stations popping up.

It is however worth noting that research conducted by the RAC Foundation suggests that the average car journey length in the UK is between 7 and 12 miles, which is well within the range of most electric vehicles.

There is also funding going into retrofitting old vehicles like busses and other public transport, along with schemes to improve road layouts, and reprogramming traffic lights to reduce traffic, and therefore emissions.

Penalties for owning a non-electric car

While the government is currently incentivising people into buying an electric car, as the tide turns and more people have electric cars, there is the possibility of charging those that are not adhering to the change.

There have been calls for areas that are most at risk like big cities to have zones that you have to pay a charge to enter. There is already a policy being introduced in London, called the T-charge, that means vehicles have to meet a minimum emission standard to drive within a set area, or else pay a £10 emission surcharge.

While it would make sense to extend this to more areas, the Government seems keen to avoid introducing a policy that taxes users. According to The Guardian, “Sources insisted that while the idea of charges were on the table, there was no plan to force councils to introduce them, and that other measures would be exhausted first.”

As we hear more about this policy and what it will mean for car owners, we’ll let you know.