The government has failed to clarify whether changes to net-zero policy, including pushing back to 2035 the end date for the sale of new diesel and petrol cars, will have any impact on similar work in the coach, bus and minibus segments.
On 20 September, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a postponement from 2030 for new cars. routeone has sought details on how that watering down may trickle through to end dates for the sale of new non-zero-emission coaches, buses and minibuses, but the Department for Transport (DfT) did not address any of the points raised.
In its response, DfT instead says that further details on “the ZEV mandate” will come in due course. There is no information on when a formal consultation on the end of sale date for new non-zero-emission coaches and minibuses is likely, or when the government will respond to an earlier consultation and set an end date for the sale of new non-zero-emission buses.
The latter process closed in May 2022. Publication of a summary of responses and the next steps was due by 21 August 2022. That has not yet happened, although in late June 2023, Under-Secretary of State for Transport Richard Holden said that the concrete date would be made public “soon.”
Failure by the government to provide any answers following Mr Sunak’s hyperbole-laden speech comes after a call from trade association RHA for “urgent clarity” on what his announcement means for sectors including coaching.
RHA says that the government “needs to collaborate with industry to come up with a detailed plan that provides certainty for investment, drives innovation, and directs support for those who want to do the right thing.”
Such an approach is “the only way to bring down costs and encourage companies to make the switch to net-zero in the long term,” RHA continues.
It notes that “simply changing deadlines without a clear plan in place will do neither.”
A similar call was made in June by the Climate Change Committee. In a report, it urged the government to publish the end date for the sale of new non-zero-emission buses, and implement a “comprehensive policy package to deliver on it.”
Proposals outlined in the consultation of 2022 include setting an end date for that of between 2025 and 2032. Given the change of position on net-zero, anything within that scope would place buses well ahead of cars. The government has not clarified whether that timeframe is still on the table, nor when announcement of the firm date should be expected.
Work on setting the same date for coaches and minibuses is less advanced, with an expectation that for coaches it will be the backstop of 2040, in line with all HGVs. MAN recently stated that it expects diesel power to remain prominent in new coaches for many years.
While zero-emission in minibuses is further advanced than coaches, DfT has previously said that it recognise the significant challenges to the latter transition for many operators.
