To target Zero emissions in the UK it is thought the date has now been brought forward to 2035, five years earlier than previously thought. Banning new petrol and diesel cars won’t be enough on its own but will go a long way to improving and meeting targets.
The UK wants to have virtually zero emissions by 2050. A third of CO2 emissions are produced by transport so a ban on conventional combustion engines will certainly help reach that target and WHO guidelines. We will also be removing nitrogen oxides from the environment. Nitrogen oxide often exceeds safe levels in many cities across the UK. Diesel vehicles hold the overwhelming majority as the main polluters of Nox gases.
Issues with going electric
Electric cars are currently expensive but it is thought that by 2025 prices will be similar to Petrol / Diesel cars due to developing battery technology.
Second-hand market
There are currently very few electric cars on the second-hand market so a large investment is needed to buy new. Electric vehicles make up less than 1% of the auto market currently.
Charging points
Although this has greatly improved until the demand is there charging points remain fairly spread out, some areas are keeping up with demand but more thought and investment needs to be made as this is a factor when deciding to buy electric.
Locations of charging points within cities where people share flats could struggle, there are ideas that lampposts could be modified to become charging points. Using existing infrastructure will be important or we may see our roads dug up once again to lay new cables.
What will happen to old cars will they be scrapped?
There is currently no UK-wide scrappage scheme in place for petrol and diesel cars and it is unclear if the government is considering this. Currently, you will still be able to buy second-hand petrol or diesel cars in 2035 just not purchase a new one. Based on that we could see a rush to buy petrol and diesel cars in the previous year.
