The British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF) has welcomed assurances by the Department for Transport (DfT) that motorcycles will not be included in the government’s recently announced plans to ban the sale of certain categories of new petrol and diesel vehicles as soon as 2030.

Last month, the government published its ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’ and confirmed that the UK “will end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, ten years earlier than planned”, with an extension until 2035 for hybrid vehicles that emit no carbon.

However, the BMF has welcomed a new clarification by the DfT that the scope of the Ten Point Plan will not include motorcycles powered by internal combustion engine (ICE) as well.

Furthermore, the DfT has also confirmed that it has no set date planned for the end of sales of new motorcycles powered by ICE either.

Commenting, BMF Chairman Jim Freeman said: “The BMF is pleased that the government is tacitly accepting the environmental-friendliness of motorcycles compared to ICE cars and vans. The combination of fuel efficiency – particularly in terms of congestion busting – and the less intensive level of resources consumed at the manufacturing stage make motorcycles a green alternative for individual transport that cannot be beaten by cars, whether powered by ICE or electricity.”

Top photograph by Wim Taal