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Responding to the government’s plan to bring forward the ban on new petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles from 2040 to 2035, Dr Richard Wellings, the IEA’s Head of Transport said:

“The decision to bring forward the ban on new petrol and diesel vehicles is likely to impose huge costs on drivers for environmental benefits that are far from certain, considering the vast amount of energy used in the manufacturing process of electric vehicles.

“Politicians are notoriously bad at picking winners and it will be drivers and taxpayers who are forced to pick up the tab.

“This is a distinctly regressive move from the government. Electric vehicles are likely to remain far more expensive than their petrol and diesel counterparts well into the future, which may force poorer motorists off the road altogether.

“The government has failed to address adequately the challenges of rolling out extensive charging infrastructure across the country – as well as the implications for the already strained power grid – the costs of which are likely to spiral out of control.”

Notes to editors

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For further IEA reading on motoring, Time to Excise Fuel Duty? is available here.

The mission of the Institute of Economic Affairs is to improve understanding of the fundamental institutions of a free society by analysing and expounding the role of markets in solving economic and social problems and seeks to provide analysis in order to improve the public understanding of economics.

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