Driving law changes could see major updates to supermarket car parks introduced amid urgent motorist demands

From 2035, the sale of new cars and vans with internal combustion engines will be banned, although political parties have outlined plans to potentially change these rules.

The Conservatives, who made the change in September last year, will keep the 2035 deadline, while Labour and the Liberal Democrats will reintroduce the original date of 2030.

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Meanwhile, the Green Party has called for a total ban on new sales from 2027 followed by a ban on the use of petrol and diesel vehicles on the road by 2035. Reform UK has suggested scrapping the car ban altogether.

With the growing number of electric vehicles on the road, regardless of when petrol and diesel cars will be banned, experts have called on private companies and the Government to install more public EV chargers.

According to Zapmap, at the end of May 2024, there were more than 62,500 charging devices across almost 33,000 locations, with the aim to install 300,000 chargers by the end of the decade.

As part of the "Future of Motoring Manifesto", experts are calling for the Government to make EV chargers compulsory for all new supermarkets and any new car parks.

The Carwow manifesto would also call on politicians to make charging points compulsory at all new major retail sites.

Some measures are already in place to help motorists adjust to the switch to electric vehicles with the Government introducing huge new rules from June 15, 2022.

This meant that all new homes and buildings in England would be required to have EV charging points fitted, while any new building development with parking needing to have access to an electric car charging point.

Any other buildings undergoing large-scale redevelopments are also be required to have an EV charger installed if they have over 10 parking spaces on site, Yesss Electrical reported.

Further research from Carwow found that 17 per cent of British drivers want a guarantee that a charging station can be found within a five-mile radius for all people.

Iain Reid, Head of Editorial at Carwow, said: "The Conservative Manifesto does not appear to include any ‘concrete promises’ to support the transition to EVs for motorists.

"The only direct mention is a pledge to ensure the EV charging infrastructure is ‘truly nationwide, including rapid charging’ but no specifics, and no financial incentives to encourage motorists to switch."

One in five motorists also called on the Government to unveil grants for homeowners to contribute towards the cost of electric vehicle home chargers.

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Reid added: "The Liberal Democrats' manifesto is one of the more encouraging, as it includes a few crossover pledges with our own Manifesto, including requiring all charging points to be accessible with a bank card and promises to reduce VAT on public EV charging to five per cent."