Grant Shapps hints ban on sale of petrol and diesel cars could happen by 2032
2 min read
A ban on new petrol and diesel cars could be brought in even earlier than planned, Grant Shapps has revealed.
The Transport Secretary said they could be outlawed by 2032, not 2035 as Boris Johnson announced last week.
That deadline had also been brought forwards from 2040, despite concerns that the necessary technology will not be in place to accommodate electric vehicles.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live, Mr Shapps said: “The Prime Minister last week has said we would like to do that by 2035 at the latest. We have said 2035 or even 2032.”
The new date was under “consultation”, he added, and the Government was putting £1.5bn towards improving electric charging infrastructure.
He continued: “We have domestic car producers and we want to help them to transition so we are doing a lot of work - in fact tomorrow I’m meeting with the car manufacturers on this very subject.”
Mr Shapps insisted there were “now more public charging locations than petrol stations in this country”.
“Electric cars are coming and we want to help the country transition”, he added.
The original 2040 date for the ban was announced by the Government in July 2017.
But last week Boris Johnson announced that the date would be brought forward to 2035.
Hybrid cars, which were not part of the original ban, would also be included, he said.
The Prime Minister introduced the policy change while speaking at the launch of the COP26 climate summit which is set to be hosted in Glasgow later this year.
The move came after experts warned the UK would struggle to hit its net zero targets by 2050 if the ban took 20 years to come into being.
Last year, MPs also urged the Government to bring forward the date of the ban to 2032, branding the 2040 target as “vague and unambitious".
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