LONDON, 11 June 2026 – Sections of the UK car industry, amplified by several Members of Parliament, are once again pushing the Government to weaken the ZEV Mandate – a regulation ensuring increasing annual EV sales in line with the UK’s climate commitments.
Despite changes to the Mandate following industry pressure and a new grant scheme introduced last year, automakers say they’re still struggling to meet targets, primarily due to lack of demand.
However, evidence points in the other direction, particularly for electric cars which are attracting record-breaking consumer sales and interest following the fuel price crisis.
Dominic Phinn, Head of Transport at Climate Group, responded:
“The ZEV Mandate is working. The regulation is already delivering more affordable EVs to UK consumers and businesses, protecting them from fuel price shocks and supporting investment across the UK economy. Leading companies in our EV100 network have invested heavily in electrification, based on the certainty the Mandate provides – and they’re reaping the benefits of lower operational costs.
The UK government should resist any calls to weaken the policy or bring forward its planned review, and instead focus on removing the barriers that are actually slowing the transition. A particular focus should be on van operators. To accelerate uptake, it’s important to continue supporting operators with upfront costs and bring down public charging costs. The government also needs to better facilitate depot charging, accelerate grid connections for depots and charging hubs, and expand home charging solutions to reduce on-the-job downtime. The electrification of transport is inevitable, so it should be a question of speeding up, rather than slowing down."