Indeed, the Reuters piece notes, “The FT said the new timetable was not expected to apply to some hybrid cars which use a mixture of electric and fossil fuel propulsion and could still be sold until 2035.”
Looks like the only realistic plan. All the “fully electric by 2035” plans that hardcore environmentalists love to pass have zero chance of going into effect.
I guess the jokes on me because I thought that people, society in general negotiate on important matters.
Is my observation wrong or are you reading me as only condescending, facetious, luddite, troll?
Similarly, COVID-19 doesn't negotiate, hence we mandate masks to avoid the anti-science people from getting the rest of us sick.
I’d love to buy an EV but I can get a decent petrol/diesel car for 30k EUR and no comparable EV.
Irrelevant. Fifteen years is almost a political generation. Punting pain ensures a punt. It gives cover for doing nothing during the timeline. And when expiry nears, what is the harm of another decade,
A slow phase-in spreads the heartburn to a palatable level. One slow-burn strategy is a creeping mileage requirement. Another is hybrids as a Trojan horse.
TL; DR I bet I could win an election in any blue-collar district running against implementing an ICE ban in 2035.
There is absolutely not a chance that the UK could have EV charging infrastructure equivalent to the current network of filling stations in place by 2030. Hybrids can be filled as normal, operate on petrol on motorways and self-charge for use in town.
The number of super chargers you need in public places per car is pretty low. Can’t imagine with 100% saturation you would even need 10% of the gas station population to serve the country.
Presently happens at home - for those with off-street parking. Plugging in and charging overnight makes a lot of sense for those that a) do have that and b) don't do long enough trips to need to charge elsewhere. But that leaves out an awful lot of people. And EV ranges aren't nearly as long as the manufacturers quote* in any but ideal conditions with a single occupant and no luggage. So filling stations will still be needed and they will all need superchargers.
* Yes neither are ICE's but this isn't a problem for anyone because there are petrol stations everywhere
The UK is making sensible small steps. That quoted rule has ended and now only electric cars are exempt from that tax. We’ve had high fuel taxes for a while, though frozen lately for poor reasons, rather than the planned increases.
https://www.buyacar.co.uk/cars/economical-cars/low-emission-...
IIRC, the original ban was going to apply to hybrids too - in 2035 - but now the government are bringing the ban forwards by 5 years for pure-ICE.