The UK government recently decided to ban the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars from 2040 and Andy Palmer has lashed out saying that this decision will either be disastrous or pointless. Palmer states that this political statement came from a government that is under pressure both from the court and the public, and isn’t an intent for influential action.
Palmer revealed that the timing of this decision will not only endanger jobs and businesses in the UK, but will add to existing Brexit problems. He added, “It’s not thinking about the consequential effects to the 800,000 people in our industry. It’s not taking into account the impact on things like petrol station garages and the [Ford employees] who have been making engines in Bridgend. Carmakers would be forced to stop building our own engines and have to go to places like Japan, China and Korea for battery technology, where they’ve been working on it with government aid for years.”
Hybrids will be exempt from the ban however and Palmer believes the new legislation would have no effect on future trends anyway, since “in 2040 there won’t be a pure combustion car, because hybridisation and plug-in hybridisation will be there with room to spare”.
Aston Martin has already invested in electric technology and its first electric model, the RapidE, will launch in two years' time.