Phasing out sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and supporting the ZEV transition

Published 24 December 2024

Last updated 7 April 2025 — See all updates

Phasing out sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and supporting the ZEV transition: summary of responses and joint government response

Detail of outcome

This response outlines:

• the UK government's commitment to phase out pure petrol and diesel cars by 2030, with clarity on technology and emissions reduction requirements that will apply post-2030
• changes that the UK government, Welsh Government, Scottish Government and the Department for Infrastructure (Northern Ireland) have committed to make to the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes to provide manufacturers with increased flexibility and new pathways to comply with the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, subject to future legislative approval

Original consultation

This consultation seeks views on proposals to support the UK's transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs).

This consultation ran from
12:01am on 24 December 2024 to 11:59pm on 18 February 2025

Consultation description

This consultation seeks views on delivering the commitment to end the sale of new cars powered solely by internal combustion engines by 2030 and supporting the UK's transition to zero emissions vehicles. The consultation is split into 2 parts.

Part 1 is about phasing out sales of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and supporting zero emission transition. It is conducted solely by the UKgovernment and seeks views on:

• options to end the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines from 2030
• potential requirements for new non-zero emission vans to be sold from 2030 to 2035
• consideration of approach for small volume manufacturers
• demand measures to support the uptake of zero emission vehicles

The second part of this consultation is about the the ZEV Mandate, delivered through the vehicle emissions trading schemes (VETS).

It is conducted by the UK government, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Department for Infrastructure (NI) and seeks views on:

• the existing flexibilities within the ZEV mandate, and consideration of further flexibilities
• other technical updates to the ZEV mandate to ensure its efficiency

Evidence from part 2 of the consultation will inform potential future amendments to the ZEV Mandate and CO₂ emissions regulation.

The analytical annex sets out the analytical approach and tailpipe CO₂analysis results for the proposed VETS amendments and options for delivering the 2030 commitment.

Documents

Phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and Support for the Zero Emission Transition