News » The Historic And Classic Vehicles Alliance comments as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushes back ban on new petrol and diesel cars
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The Historic And Classic Vehicles Alliance Comments As Prime Minister Rishi Sunak Pushes Back Ban On New Petrol And Diesel Cars
In light of a busy year meeting with ministers, MPs and industry partners to discuss future fuels and their impact on the classic car sector, the HCVA is encouraged by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s recent (Wednesday 20th September 2023) speech on the government’s green commitments and what they mean for our industry.
While the UK government’s Net Zero plans are key to tackling climate change, and the Alliance supports the initiative, it has become increasingly clear that the infrastructure is not yet in place to fully action the proposal.
Furthermore, a number of the ensuing policies have been criticised for being too rigid when considering the historic and classic vehicle sector, and concerns have been raised by HCVA members.
Chair, David Meek has been active in lobbying on behalf of the SMEs who form our membership and is in support of a more open-minded approach to new solutions and technologies having time to evolve to help reach targets.
The five year delay brings the UK in line with the European Union, which is also banning sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035, but will put pressure on its goal to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Guy Lachlan, HCVA board member and director of the Alliance’s ongoing Sustainability and Environment pillar campaign, said;
“While this change in date does not directly impact the Historic Vehicle sector, it is good to see that government is showing a willingness to be pragmatic and alter mandated dates in light of real-world availability of alternative technologies.
HCVA continues to lead the way in the development, testing and adoption of Sustainable Liquid Fuels in the Historic Sector, several of which are now available in the UK. We look forward to working further with government to encourage the development and uptake of these fuels on a similarly pragmatic basis.”
As a not-for-profit organisation representing the collective voice of our members, we are encouraged that the Prime Minster is taking our sector and our country’s interests seriously.