Jersey remains on track to ban the importation, sale and registration of petrol and diesel cars and small vans that are new to Jersey from 1 January 2030 at the latest, the Government has maintained… but does the local motoring industry feel ready for the big EV switch?
In an annual progress report on its ‘Carbon Neutral Roadmap’ published today, the Government has said it remains committed to the ban in four-and-a-half years’ time.
How the ban will be introduced will be put out for consultation later this year. This will include which vehicles might be exempted, such classic and high-performance cars.
The Government also plans to introduce legislation between 2030 and 2040 which will cover all vehicle types, including hybrids.
Broadly following the UK
In introducing a ban, Jersey is broadly following the UK, which is currently consulting on its proposals.
There, the Labour Government has said that no new petrol or diesel cars will be sold after 2030, and all new cars and vans will need to be 100 per cent zero emission by 2035.
EV sales have slowed down since the incentive scheme ended and we could do with the Government providing some more motivation for islanders in the future
Martin Gurren, Freelance
It has also introduced something called the ‘ZEV Mandate’, which aims to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by setting annual targets for the proportion of zero-emission vehicles that manufacturers must sell.
Jersey is acutely aware that if its plans do fall out of sync with other jurisdictions, it could become a dumping group for new low-cost petrol and diesel cars that cannot be sold in the UK or EU due to the bans brought in there.
The progress report says that work is on track to make sure that that doesn’t happen.
The Carbon Neutral Roadmap was passed by the Assembly in April 2022, at the very end of the last political term.
The roadmap sets out policies required to achieve decarbonisation by 2050 and makes recommendations to start the Island’s journey to net-zero in phase one of the delivery plan, which concludes at the end of this year.
The Government is therefore planning for the second phase, which runs until 2030.
EV scheme success
One of the key policies of the first phase was an Electric Vehicle Purchase Scheme, which provided up to £3,500 towards the purchase of an EV that was new to Jersey – both new and second-hand vehicles – up to a maximum vehicle value of £40,000.
The target number of purchase incentives given in the Carbon Neutral Roadmap was 1,200.
Launched in August 2023, the scheme’s uptake was far higher than expected, with the budget allocated one year earlier than expected.
In total, 1,208 applications were processed, including 25 commercial vans.
“We just need a bit of clarity”
Giving an industry perspective on the proposed ban, Martin Gurren, Managing Director of Freelance in the Channel Islands, said: “The ban will definitely come for internal combustion engine and diesel vehicles in 2030 but Jersey will have to decide whether it wants to follow UK legislation or not. Not all the pieces of the jigsaw are in place quite yet.”
He added: “EV sales have slowed down since the incentive scheme ended and we could do with the Government providing some more motivation for Islanders in the future.
“We just need a bit of clarity, from both Jersey and Guernsey, of the plan going forward. One area that needs a resolution, for example, is hire cars, which are not conducive to being electric at the moment because there are hardly any charging points at the Airport.”
EV sales down
Miles Jude, General Manager of Derek Warwick Honda, reiterated the call that the Government should consider reintroducing the EV scheme.
He said: “The number of used EV cars sold in Jersey over the first six months of this year was down 47% on 2024, which is directly linked to the end of the scheme,” he said. “New sales were broadly static, despite manufacturers putting pressure on dealers to sell.”
Mr Jude added: “The industry also needs some clarity on what the Government’s plans are for hybrid vehicles.”
Overall, the roadmap commits Jersey to reduce its emissions by 68 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030, 78 per cent by 2035, and reaching net zero emissions by 2050.