The majority of the UK public believe 2035 deadline for ICE vehicles will not be achieved and one in four plan to buy an ICE car close to the deadline, despite the ZEV mandate.

The government announced the phase-out of new petrol and diesel models in 2010, even after Rishi Sunak delayed this deadline for another five years, and the Labour Party said it would bring the date forward again, the public remain unconvinced of its effectiveness, with over half (52 per cent) believing even the current deadline will not be met.

A survey conducted by Sustain, a company that specialises in sustainable fuel, revealed that 59 per cent of motorists driving a petrol or diesel car plan on keeping it going for as long as possible, and a quarter (27%) are planning to buy an ICE car close to the deadline. Half of the respondents (50 per cent) felt the environmental impact of scrapping a car in good working order would be too great, while 40 per cent believed EVs don’t suit their needs.

The findings also revealed that it’s not just the timing of this plan that people are questioning, it’s the approach being taken too, given that over half (54 per cent) of those surveyed said they would like to hear more about alternative sustainable motoring options and to stop feeling forced down one particular path, currently the switch to EVs.

There were also concerns about how environmental solutions were being measured and compared, with 45 per cent believing that current government environmental policy is flawed because it fails to include a full life cycle analysis (LCA) for different ‘green’ alternatives.

David Richardson from Sustain commented: “Clearly, electric vehicles offer a lot of benefits and should form part of our environmental strategy. However, as a company that specialises in sustainable fuel, we urge the Government to embrace the opportunities that our category, and others, present. We don’t have to pit one solution against another, we should be utilising all the available technologies.”

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