Experts have called for the 2035 petrol and diesel car ban to be permanently axed as motorists do not want to give up combustion vehicles.
The Alliance of British Drivers (ABD) has also demanded that public money is no longer used to incentive electric vehicle sales which have struggled in recent months.
The calls come after the latest data from the Society of Motors and Manufacturers (SMMT) showed EV sales had dropped even further.
At the same time, a staggering 84.8 percent of new car sales in March were fitted with a petrol and diesel engine.
They claimed it was now clear that the public “do not want their choices taken away”.
With this in mind, the ABD wants to see the ban on new petrol and diesel car sales “properly and permanently scrapped” as soon as possible.
However, they also called out the Government’s previous insistence on using public taxpayer money to incentivise an uptick in EV demand.
The Plug-In car grant previously offered road users thousands of pounds to make the switch while EV drivers are still exempt from road tax fees such as Vehicle Excise Duty (VED).
Bob Bell, ABD chairman, explained: “The public must not have their right to choose removed and public money must no longer be thrown at subsidising new EV sales and usage.
“The tax system has for years given huge advantages to persuade fleets and business users to adopt EVs.
This is not ‘free money’, it is paid for by the hard-working and struggling people of this country. Enough is enough”.
The SMMT are among industry leaders who have called for more incentives to be put into place. They wish to see VAT on new EV sales halved and VED rises for EVs planned from April 2025 to be scrapped.
Rishi Sunak decided to push back the petrol and diesel car ban from its expected 2030 end date to 2035 back in September last year.
However, the ABD has now claimed Sunak’s speech was merely “weasel words” with many of the zero-emissions mandate rules still setting a hard 2030 deadline.
The ABD also warned Labour looks likely to reinstate the 2030 deadline if they win the next General Election expected later this year.
