The UK’s EV sales target could be watered down under a Government review that could see them fall as far as 50 per cent of all sales by the end of the decade.

Under the ZEV Mandate, manufacturers currently face a target rising each year to reach 80 per cent by 2030, but calls from the sector and slower than hoped demand have led to the Government to undertake a consultation.

Likely outcomes are an increased allowance for hybrids, whilst an outright ban on new ICE only cars from 2030 would be expected to stay.

The Government’s consultation on potential changes to the ZEV Mandate was welcomed by the Society of motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with CEO Mike Hawes saying: “A review had been factored into the regulation from its outset but bringing it forward has become increasingly important given the challenges manufacturers face with every passing month.”

Hawes added that any policy should be pragmatic: “Policy must now respond to the evidence – and it shows overwhelmingly that the optimistic assumptions underpinning the Mandate’s current trajectory have not materialised. Industrial energy costs remain uncompetitive, public charging is still too expensive and inconsistent, while raw material and battery costs remain too high.”

The SMMT has long warned that the 2030 target was too ambitious, whilst fully supporting the transition to electric, particularly pointing out the cost to manufacturers in selling EVs at a loss to make up quotas.

Greenpeace UK’s head of politics Ami McCarthy noted: “Burnham can’t fulfil his promise of tackling the cost of living crisis and reindustrialising Britain without the green economy. So why put on the brakes now?”

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