More than half of buyers disagree with 2030 petrol and diesel car ban
Most drivers disagree with the ban in principle, a new What Car? survey finds, while 40% say better charging infrastructure is needed for it to make sense...
More than half of potential car buyers disagree with the Government's decision to move the ban on petrol and diesel-powered cars forward five years to 2030.
That's according to a new What Car? poll of more than 7700 readers, following last week's announcement. Our survey revealed that 59% of respondents disagreed with the principles behind the ban, while almost 30% said they wanted better communication on which cars would still be allowed on sale after 2030. Indeed, while the government has said that said hybrid cars which can travel for 'substantial' distances on pure electric power will be allowed to be sold until 2035, what constitutes substantial has yet to be defined.
Previous What Car? research has found that just one in five buyers know the differences between a fully electric, plug-in hybrid, so-called 'self-charging' hybrid and mild hybrid cars, showing how much work has yet to be done to educate potential owners.
Survey respondents also said they wanted better investment in public charging infrastructure across the country, with 40% citing it as the biggest single initiative required to increase the uptake of electric vehicles. So far in 2020, 9335 purely electric cars have been sold, representing 6.6% of the total. That's well up from 2.2% across the same period in 2019.
To that end, a quarter of respondents said that a scrappage scheme – where owners of older vehicles are encouraged to 'scrap' them in exchange for a healthy discount on a new car – would be the best solution to get more drivers to go electric, while 21% said that the existing £3000 grant for electric cars costing less than £50,000 was the best incentive for potential buyers.
The Government's announcement clearly already has some buyers planning for the future, with almost a quarter (24%) of respondents saying they were now more likely to consider an electric vehicle as their next car. You can find all of our latest electric and hybrid car news and reviews, along with our best discounts, on our dedicated hub page.
For all the latest reviews, advice and new car deals, sign up to the What Car? newsletter here
