Rumour: UK to advance petrol & diesel car ban to 2030

The health risks could lead to a high loss in productivity amounting to 2.7 billion GBP per year.

According to a media report, the British Prime Minister is expected to announce a ban on new petrol and diesel cars from 2030.

Initially, the ban was set to come into effect from 2040. It was brought forward to 2035 earlier this year and is now expected to be enforced from 2030.

Increasing amounts of nitrogen oxide content in the air is said to be the reason behind the advancement of the ban. It is said that the Ministers believe that the health risks could lead to a high loss in productivity amounting to 2.7 billion GBP per year.

This new schedule could exempt some of the petrol electric hybrids and allow their sale upto the year 2035. Sales figures for petrol and diesel cars stand at 73.6% of new car sales while all-electric cars make up just 5.5% of total sales. The share of hybrid vehicles is 20.9%.

France had also announced that it would ban internal combustion engines after 2040, but it was more to meet the targets of the Paris climate accord.