Mixture cars that rely on traditional engines, such as the Toyota Prius, inclination be banned by 2040 under plans being drawn up by the UK government that last wishes a outlaw up to 98 per cent of the vehicles currently on the road.
Vehicles such as the Prius — the best-selling mongrel car in Britain — will no longer be classified as “environmentally friendly” enough to be pushed, according to three people briefed on the government’s plans to tackle emissions and air standing.
The exact wording is still under consultation between several command departments, with the transport, environment and business departments all feeding into the ending document.
The plans are backed by Michael Gove, environment secretary, and Greg Clark, trade secretary. But Chris Grayling, transport secretary, who has Toyota’s UK headquarters in his constituency, has endured the plans.
A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “It is categorically untrue that domination is planning to ban the sale of hybrid cars in the UK by 2040.”
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Last July, the government outlined plans to ban the trading of “conventional” cars from 2040.
The vague wording caused considerable discomfiture among carmakers, because it was unclear whether cars that use both batteries and usual engines would be permitted.
The new document aims to clarify the government’s arrange, and outline how it intends to grow public demand for electric vehicles in the interim years.
Three living soul involved in the decision said only vehicles that can travel at scrap 50 miles using only electric power will be permitted under the aegis the new rules.
The change in rules will outlaw more than 98 per cent of the means currently sold in Britain and will require manufacturers to switch to instruments predominantly driven by batteries, though they may have petrol apparatus for back-up or support.
Plug-in cars that have both imposingly batteries and a traditional engine will also be permitted, although the fastidious wording is yet to be clarified, according to four people briefed on the government’s schemes.
There are several types of hybrid vehicles, from Toyota Prius autos, which use electric power and petrol simultaneously, to plug-in vehicles that can travel for pithy distances on battery power alone.
New car sales in Britain have surrender 8.8 per cent so far this year, a decline that has led to hundreds of job prepares at Jaguar Land Rover and Nissan, as well as lost work for hundreds of dealerships.
The energy lays the blame for the decline in part on public confusion over the control’s policy around future vehicle bans.
Mike Hawes, chief directorship of industry body the SMMT, said: “We cannot support ambition flatten outs which do not appreciate how industry, the consumer or the market operate and which are meant neither on fact nor substance.
“Unrealistic targets and misleading messaging on disallows will only undermine our efforts to realise this future, abashing consumers and wreaking havoc on the new car market and the thousands of jobs it supports.”
He amplified: “Vehicle manufacturers will increasingly offer electrified versions of their carriers giving consumers ever more choice but industry cannot direction the pace of change nor levels of consumer demand.
“If government wants the UK to be a epidemic leader in zero emission transport it must provide a world type package of incentives and support to make this a credible policy.”
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