Article Courtesy: MotorcycleNews.com 

Britain’s bike industry bosses have pushed back hard on Government plans to phase out the sale of new, petrol-engined motorcycles by 2035, asking instead for an open-minded approach to alternative fuels.

In a cards-on-table meeting last week with Jesse Norman MP, key representatives from the UK’s motorcycle industry urged the Government to urgently rethink its plans, with the sector accounting for only 0.4% of the total UK domestic transport emissions.

“We are not saying that we can’t improve where we are. We’re not saying that we don’t want any of this and it needs to go away, what we’re saying is we need an open mindedness to technology,” Chief Executive of the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) Tony Campbell told MCN.

“And we need time to allow other industries to develop, the investment to go into other sectors. That’s then going to provide options to us as a sector because we’re not big enough to drive that innovation and that change so we need the automotive world to move forward very quickly.”

The meeting, hosted by the Department for Transport (DfT), was a chance for the MCIA and the National Motorcyclists Council (NMC) to present their reaction to a Government consultation issued last year that proposes the phasing out of some petrol-engined machines from 2030 with a complete ban five years later.

Manufacturers are now calling for a technology-neutral approach to the situation that considers clean and synthetic fuels alongside batteries and alternative fuels moving forward.

“We need investment into battery technology and new innovations as well as efuels,” Campbell continued. “Therefore the premise of our argument is if you force anything on us too soon, then the industry won’t be what it is today.”

Speaking about the current 2035 deadline, he added: “Worst case scenario, the 11kW (125cc) segment we could live with that ‑ the market is already moving in that direction. But we need 2040 or beyond for everything else, and this is what we are fundamentally asking for.”

Manufacturers with experience in electric motorcycle development echoed the concerns of banning larger capacity machines too quickly, with doubts aired at their ability to offer customers with acceptable net-zero alternatives.

Steve Sargent, Chief Product Officer at Triumph, who previously gained understanding of electric motorcycle technology with their TE-1 electric project, said: “All the major OEMs present shared similar views on the difficulty of developing larger capacity EV motorcycles which meet customer expectations on cost and range. The Minister took a considered view of the opinions of all parties. We hope that the final announcement reflects the information presented.”

There has been movement in Europe regarding the ICE ban after the European Union agreed to allow combustion engine sales after 2035 if they could run on efuels. These materials strip CO2 from the air and combine it with hydrogen to create a petrol replacement to power a combustion engine.

NMC Executive Director Craig Carey-Clinch said: “The Minister was in listening mode and seems willing to discuss further the points that were made in the meeting.

“But with no date yet announced for the Government’s policy announcement on motorcycle decarbonisation, there is still much to do to make sure that our messages are fully taken on board. As a result, the willingness of Mr Norman to keep dialogue open on areas such as efuels is very welcome,” he concluded.

A Department for Transport spokesperson added: “It’s important that we decarbonise motorcycles along with other modes of transport and we’re engaging with industry and stakeholders on this, including at last week’s positive and constructive roundtable discussion.” Watch this space.