Australia should follow UK’s ICE ban

The United Kingdom is setting a fantastic example for policymakers to follow on EV policy.

That’s according to Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari on news the UK will end sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

The global EV revolution is now upon us, but it requires leadership from national governments to seize those benefits, Jafari says.

“If the Johnson government can ambitiously take up the agenda of the green industrial revolution there is no reason the Australian government cannot follow suit.”

Others have chimed in with comments on the UK’s move too.

Drive Electric chair Mark Gilbert says it’s a wake-up call for New Zealand.

Volta Trucks chief executive Rob Fowler says the UK’s ambitious plan to implement the world’s second most stringent timeline follows Norway.

“However, we are disappointed that there is no mention in the proposals for the ban to extend to large commercial vehicles,” Fowler says.

“Legacy internal combustion engine trucks are a disproportionately large contributor to greenhouse gasses and air pollution that’s proven to be a significant contributor to many thousands of premature deaths every year in our major towns and cities, where air quality is at its worst.

“Governments and legislators need to take a holistic approach to the climate change emergency we face and remove all polluting vehicles from our roads.

“I therefore call on the UK government to apply the same levels of decarbonisation ambition for commercial vehicles as has been announced with passenger cars and vans.

“As a company that is founded on the principle of accelerating change, the transition away from fossil fuels cannot come soon enough, to improve the air quality and environment for all of us.”

UK tech firm Saietta Group says it’s ahead of UK’s EV development for 2030 deadline with low-cost, high-torque modular electric motors already in production in Oxfordshire.

It intends unveiling a last-mile EV delivery vehicle soon.

Announcing it’s ready for the “EV era” and end of the “ICE age”, Saietta urges the UK government to step up investment in the EV tech industry.

Tesla, Rivian and Uber seem about to push for a similar ICE ban in the US, recently reported as establishing an alliance called “Zeta 2030“, targeting 100% EV sales as market share by 2030.