GOVERNMENT SET TO ROLL BACK ZEV MANDATE

Industry to consult on revised 2030 EV sales targets as demand falters

- FELIX PAGE

Car industry bosses have welcomed the news that the UK government is set to scale back dramatically its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate and allow more combustion-engined models to be sold up to the end of the decade.

Prime minister Keir Starmer is poised to outline a new timeframe for the ZEV mandate. The revised strategy means the targeted electric vehicle sales mix for each manufacturer in the UK will be reduced from 80% by 2030 to 50%.

The move comes in response to intense lobbying from car companies and workers unions in the UK, who have argued that the currently imposed timeline - which calls for a 33% EV sales mix in 2026, and 38% next year, rising in increments to 80% in 2030 - is out of step with consumer demand and is essentially unattainable.

Recent data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows that EVs have accounted for just 23.9% of all car registrations so far this year. That's some way behind the 2026 target of 33% and barely a quarter of what would be required in just four years' time.

Car manufacturers have already been forced to spend billions in discounts - at great cost to their bottom lines - in a bid to avoid costly government fines for missing the targets, and the government itself has introduced the Electric Car Grant in an attempt to accelerate demand to the levels it had anticipated.

But now, with the 2030 end date in sight and the market lagging well behind earlier forecasts, the government is poised to ease the burden by bringing the targets down to better reflect the pace of adoption.

Ministers are preparing to consult with the industry on the less ambitious targets, which would allow for 50% of car sales to still have a combustion powertrain of some sort in 2030.