Then there’s the inability to even clarify the law itself. The 2030 ban was really a 2035 ban, given the exemption for hybrids with ‘a meaningful electric range’ that remained within it for five years. Remarkably, though, that hybrid exemption was never outlined. We won’t ever know now. Did the government? Unlikely.
This was true too of the ZEV mandate, a rising increase of the proportion of EV sales car makers must hit between now and 2030. Just a few months out from its introduction in 2024, it has yet to be officially set. It was tipped to be released this week, but whether the ZEV mandate now survives is another unknown. How have car makers been supposed to business plan inventories for next year amid the lack of any clarity on a key regulatory framework with large fines for not hitting it?
READ MORE: Car makers demand clear hybrid definition as 2030 approaches
This too should be the end of the UK wanting to be seen as a leader in climate change and will seriously dent this country’s standing as a place for businesses to invest in a stable, forward-looking regulatory environment. It’s a softening of what was a world-leading stance on making a switch and businesses are rightly annoyed.
Ford UK boss Lisa Brankin said her business requires “ambition, commitment and consistency” from the government, and a removal of the 2030 ban would undermine all three. Again, whatever you think of the ban in the first place, Brankin’s words ring true for the situation we’re in.
Perhaps the date was too ambitious anyway, given the 2035 date set by the European Union that the UK now falls in line with. Given where the power balance lies between the UK and EU when it comes to the automotive industry, alignment with the EU always seemed the more sensible path anyway.
I can remember the day it was announced: the ban was listed as a single-line bullet point in a long list of net zero targets. There wasn’t any other information at the time and it all seemed rather whimsical. The three years of chaos since then should have been three years of careful planning before that date to perhaps end up at the same decision as Sunak will settle on this week, yet of course there’s the added backdrop here of votes to be won in crucial upcoming by-elections, with a general election looming in around a year’s time.