More than half of car buyers are against the 2030 petrol and diesel car ban

More than half of buyers don’t think new petrol and diesel cars should be banned in 2030, according to research.

A survey of 7,778 in-market car buyers by consumer outlet What Car? found that 59 per cent are opposed to the ban.

Furthermore, 29 per cent of respondents said they did not understand which vehicles would be affected by the ban.

The government recently revealed it was pushing forward its ban on sales of vehicles with internal combustion engines. This would see plug-in hybrid vehicles continue to be sold – at first, at least – alongside pure electric vehicles. Sales of new standard hybrids and vehicles with no electrification would be banned.

However, despite this clarification, earlier research by What Car? found that 20 per cent of buyers did not understand the difference between hybrid models, adding to the confusion.

When asked how the government should help to encourage the uptake of electric vehicles, the most popular answer was improving the public charging network with 40 per cent of responses.

Meanwhile, more than a quarter wanted a return of the scrappage scheme, which would see large discounts off zero-emission-capable vehicles when an older, more-polluting vehicle is scrapped.

Steve Huntingford, editor of What Car?, said: “With more than half of in-market buyers in our latest study stating they disagree with the 2030 ban, the Government has its work cut out in convincing buyers to make the switch.

“More work needs to be done to explain the benefits of electric motoring and why the investment required is going to happen, while there’s also clearly a need for more spending into charging infrastructure and purchase incentives for buyers.”