Former Top Gear host Richard Hammond makes major prediction for the future of motoring as Net Zero ban approaches

FORMER Top Gear star Richard Hammond has made a major prediction for the future of motoring as the Net Zero ban draws nearer.

Despite an increasing number of drivers using EVs, Hammond believes “the majority” of motors on UK roads will still run on petrol and diesel in 2050.

The TV host explained that combustion models would “have to” keep running as he says the current number of drivers switching to electric vehicles can’t be sustained.

He also suggested that synthetic fuels could play a role in the future of clean motoring rather than a complete transition to EVs.

Hammond told The Telegraph: “EVs will be part of the picture, of course they are.

“But at the current rate of electrification, even if we could keep it up – which we can’t because China is withholding the rare earth minerals we need – by 2050 the majority of cars on the road will still be, and have to be, internal combustion engines.

“So we have to solve that, and synthetic fuels will be the way.”

The Government has legislated for a 2035 sales ban on new petrol and diesel models in a bid to clean up UK roads by 2050.

The policy was set to be introduced for 2030 it was pushed back by Prime Minister  last year.

But there have been signs that demand for electric models is starting to die out.

Data from the  showed battery electric vehicles were up 3.8 percent in March 2024 compared to 12 months before,

It comes as Richard Hammond made a TV appearance with his rarely-seen daughter Isabelle and revealed that his Top Gear crash in 2006 “changed his brain”.

The 56-year-old, who has been in a number of accidents over the years, had a near-fatal crash 18 years ago while filming BBC’s Top Gear.

Richard was rushed to hospital and put into a coma after the accident, and after the crash Richard suffered with depression, paranoia and memory loss.

The presenter and his daughter Isabelle, 24, recently decided to create their own podcast – Who We Are Now – to chat about mental health, which was born out of his struggles after the crash.

Appearing on this morning’s ITV’s Lorraine this morning to chat about their new podcast, Isabelle mentioned how his brain had changed after the horrific accident.

Isabelle, who was just four years old at the time of the crash, said: “Us as a family as well, we spent a long time talking about his brain. We had to.

“It’s been sort of keeping an eye on it, his behaviour, how he’s thinking, how he’s acting, how he’s feeling…

“Because obviously he recovered in hospital, but when he was back home that was very much mainly my mum just keeping an eye on him, making sure he was okay and being very open about how he felt.”