With the UK Government expected to announce a consultation on the ZEV Mandate as early as this week, Dominic Phinn, Head of Transport at Climate Group, comments:
“The future of cars is electric, and if UK carmakers seize the opportunity, they’ll protect a cornerstone industry in the UK, safeguarding hundreds of thousands of British jobs.
The ZEV Mandate is their ally, as it’s moving everyone in the same direction: companies, consumers, the industries building the infrastructure, and policymakers setting out the conditions for growth.
But the car industry continues to treat it as its enemy, even though other countries are electrifying their cars and trucks at dazzling speed, bringing increasingly cheap models to market. And companies want this electrification – our latest data shows 70% of leading global company fleets chose not to add a single petrol or diesel car last year, while EV sales in the UK are now outperforming the ZEV Mandate.
A watering down of the ZEV Mandate could undermine any agenda for growth and economic competitiveness, and sabotage one of the cheapest, most effective climate protection tools we have at a time when our world is, literally, on fire.”
Notes to Editors
- More than 70% of the world's leading corporate fleets did not add any new petrol or diesel vehicles last year, according to our latest EV100 report, with clean, cheaper-to-run electric vehicles (EVs) quickly becoming the new standard.
- UK businesses are actively phasing out fossil fuel vehicles, as they look to protect themselves from fuel price volatility and future-proof operations.
- UK July EV sales beat mandate path, New Automotive data shows.
- Leading UK fleets, led by BT/Openreach, support the ZEV Mandate as a key driver of the UK transition, and have been urging the Government to protect it.
For additional commentary and interview requests, please contact Daniel Kramb, dkramb@climategroup.org and Advaith Jaikumar, ajaikumar@climategroup.org.