Despite U.K.'s Rishi Sunak decision, Nissan says it will go all-electric in Europe by 2030

Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Nissan said Monday that it was staying the course to sell only electric vehicles in Europe by 2030 despite British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announcing last week he was delaying numerous climate change plans.

Sunak surprised many in the auto world and other officials in Europe when he said his government would pause numerous climate-related policies to 2035 from 2030, including on a string of climate-related policies, including a ban on new gasoline and diesel vehicles at that time.

Since that announcement, Nissan said it was "pressing ahead with plans to achieve 100% EV in Europe by 2030, with all new Nissan models from now to be all-electric in Europe," regardless. Carmakers already have spent billions trying to meet the European 2030 deadline.

"There is no turning back now," Makoto Uchida, Nissan president and CEO, said. "We believe it is the right thing to do for our business, our customers and for the planet."

Nissan said that one-third of the more than 1 million electric vehicles the company has already sold globally have been in Europe. Renault, Nissan's partner, along with Ford and Stellantis had all committed to going all-electric in Europe by 2030 before Sunak's announcement.

Sunak said last week that delaying the ban until 2030 put England in line with Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, Canada, Sweden and some states in the United States, despite protests from opposition parties.