EU scraps 2035 petrol and diesel car ban – will the UK follow?

The EU has made the monumental decision to scrap its 2035 ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars in a move that has sent a seismic wave through the car industry – one that will certainly have an impact on the UK’s own EV transition.

In a statement on 16 December 2026, the European Commissioner for Climate, Net Zero and Clean Growth, Wopke Hoekstra said: "We want our industries to be the leaders of the transition to a low-carbon economy because that is what is best for our climate, competitiveness and independence.”

“Today, we are stepping in to ensure a successful clean future for the automotive sector,” they continued. “We are introducing flexibilities for manufacturers, and in turn this will have to be compensated with low-carbon steel and the use of sustainable fuels to drive down emissions.”

Petrol and diesel ban plan scrapped: what does it mean in practice?

So what does this mean? Well, while the previous plan saw only pure-electric and hydrogen cars allowed to be sold from new in the EU after 2035, the new revision enables manufacturers to consider selling plug-in, full and mild-hybrid, as well as old-school internal combustion petrol and diesel models past this date. 

The catch is that these types of vehicle can only account for 10 per cent of sales; manufacturers will be required to offset the emissions from these cars by utilising low-carbon steel during manufacturing, or by powering their cars with e-fuels and biofuels.

Furthermore, in the lead up to 2035 manufacturers will be able to make use of so-called ‘super credits’ for small electric cars; these models (measuring under 4.3 metres in length) will each count as 1.3 vehicles against manufacturing quotas, enabling manufacturers to effectively ‘bank’ progress towards emissions targets.

As for commercial vehicles, the quota of how many vans must be pure-electric post-2035 has been reduced from 50 to 40 per cent, whilst the Commission says it plans to invest €1.8 billion into boosting the EU battery manufacturing industry, offering interest-free loans to local cell producers.

What will the UK do? 

At this time, it’s unknown exactly when the EU will make this pivotal announcement. Perhaps the biggest uncertainty, however, is whether the UK will follow suit; Keir Starmer’s Labour administration has already in the last year restored the 2030 ban on the sale of new pure-petrol and diesel cars, with a requirement that everything sold after 2035 must be fully zero-emissions.

On the other hand, the Conservative Party claims that if it wins the next general election in 2029, it will  scrap the ban and ZEV mandate altogether. Writing in a column for The Telegraph newspaper, leader Kemi Badenoch described the requirement for manufacturers to sell a prescribed quota of EVs as a "well-meaning, but ultimately destructive piece of legislation".

Until recently, electric car sales have been growing strongly and are up 26 per cent for 2025 to date, but the rate of growth has slowed in recent months with November sales up just 3.6 per cent on 2024. Many manufacturers are also struggling to hit ZEV mandate targets that require 28 per cent of their sales to be zero-emission vehicles in 2025 and 33 per cent in 2026.

This lacklustre sales performance can be attributed in-part to the government’s sometimes contradictory approach to EV adoption. On the one hand there’s the £3,750 Electric Car Grant available on some models, which has recently been extended to March 2030, but on the other there’s the looming eVED pay-per-mile tax which will see EV and PHEV drivers charged over and above their annual road tax payable by ICE car drivers.

Founder and director of Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fiona Howarth explained how: “The UK has positioned itself as a stable and attractive market for investment in electric vehicles… That credibility has been built on the strength and clarity of its regulatory framework. Diluting the UK’s ambition in response to changes in Brussels would send a damaging signal to investors, manufacturers and supply-chain partners, many of whom have already committed significant capital on the assumption that the UK would stay the course.”

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