- The UK’s transport secretary, Louise Haigh, is set to reiterate the UK government’s commitment to the ZEV mandate, with the transport secretary meeting automotive leaders in the EV industry this week.
- This push kicks off with a meeting with Nissan today, followed by a roundtable discussion with more automotive leaders on Wednesday.
- The messaging comes after concerns have been raised about manufacturers meeting this year’s ZEV mandate of 22% electric car sales and 10% electric van sales – a required proportion that is set to increase every year, ahead of the current date of 2035 set for the ban of new petrol and diesel car sales.
UK remains committed to electric car targets
There has been pressure from some car manufacturers to relax the targets set, which has led to organisations such as OVO Energy, SSE, and BT Openreach publicly calling on the government to remain steadfast to the current targets – as reported by The Guardian. Meanwhile, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has said that the industry is ‘likely to miss’ these sales targets – something the organisation already warned back in the summer.
Haigh has already confirmed that the mandate will not be weakened, but did say that ‘flexibilities’ could be created to help manufacturers achieve the targets. Therefore, we could see more financial support, or changes to policy, on the back of these meetings. On the policy side, concessions reportedly being called for by manufacturers include reducing the penalties for manufacturers who don’t meet ZEV targets, or allowing British-made EVs sold abroad to also count towards this target. More support on the uptake of electric vans, in the form of incentives, has already been called for in previous months, and such a scheme could help boost electric van market share up to the levels required.
Such conversations will be crucial if the government is to successfully move forward the 100% ZEV target on new petrol and diesel cars from 2035 to 2030 – something which was promised in Labour’s pre-election manifesto.
On the same day, Auto Trader, ChargeUK, and the SMMT have also launched a joint campaign to fight EV misinformation – which could help to drive consumer EV adoption.
