Millions of petrol and diesel owners will be hit with a new CO2 emissions cap when new car ban rules come into effect. 

According to the DfT, a new CO2 cap is being considered for new vans built by manufacturers from 2030.

However, officials warn that the move could have a "disproportionate" impact on larger vans which could be a blow to road users.

Under the current Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate rules, firms must meet production targets on the sale of zero-emission models.

The current goal stands at 28% but this is set to slowly rise until only hybrid cars and EVs are allowed past 2030.

An emissions cap likely means only brand-new vans which produce below a certain amount of g/km of CO2 will be allowed.

However, officials will take a different approach to vans with the DfT accepting there was a lack of hybrid models on the road.

The DfT made the admission in their recently published ‘Phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and Support for the Zero Emission Transition’ document.

They said: “Licensing data from the DVLA shows that less than 1% of new vans registered in 2023 were hybrid, of which almost none were plug-in hybrids.

“The hybrid van market is expected to remain constrained between now and 2030, with many van manufacturers planning to switch their internal combustion engine models directly to zero-emission.

“As outlined in this consultation, we are not proposing to mandate any particular technology definition that all vans must meet from 2030.

“Instead, we will consider a primary CO2 requirement from 2030. Due to the differentiated nature of the van market, and the lack of hybrid alternative, a vehicle-level CO2 cap would have a disproportionate impact on larger vans.

“A vehicle-level cap could implicitly require larger models to become zero-emission.”

The UK’s petrol and diesel car ban is set to be introduced from 2035 but Labour has stressed it is keen to push the date forward to 2030. 

Last month, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander launched a consultation asking industry experts for their views on how the UK could reach the 2030 goal.

The Government said they are still seeking views on possible options to “end the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines” from the end of the decade.

They are also asking for opinions on “potential requirements for new non-zero emission vans to be sold from 2030 to 2035”.