April 16, 2025
Sara Davies
Electric and Hybrid News
On 7th April, the Prime Minister announced plans to change the ZEV mandate to support the UK car industry, which employs 152,000 people and adds £19 billion to the economy.
The UK’s Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate is a government policy that mandates car manufacturers to sell a specific percentage of zero-emission vehicles each year, in the lead up to an eventual ban on all ICE vehicles.
The goal of the ZEV mandate is to reduce emissions from transportation and contribute to net-zero targets.
The UK government is softening some of the original targets and providing more flexibility for car manufacturers.
The changes will support the UK car industry by increasing flexibility of the mandate up to 2030, so that more cars can be sold in later years when demand is higher, in addition to other changes. They follow extensive consultation and support industry in making the UK a global automotive leader in the switch to electric.
The car industry will be able to:
The government has stated that it’s committed to pushing forward tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds to help people transition to EVs.
The ZEV mandate changes are designed to help industry meet the mandate and manufacture more electric vehicles, while increasing the demand for them. The amendments will have a significant impact on manufacturers’ ability to decarbonise in a manner that is sustainable for them – providing short-term flexibility to ensure that jobs and investment remain in the UK.
The UK’s already the largest EV market in Europe and the third in the world. Demand for electric vehicles is already rising, with the latest data showing sales in March were up over 40% on last year, which will help with the transition.
With a new charge-point being added to the UK network every 30 minutes, the government is already spending £2.3 billion on boosting British manufacturing and improving charging infrastructure. There’s also around £6 billion of private funding to be invested in the UK’s chargepoint roll-out by 2030.
From 2030 all new cars will need to be hybridised in some manner – or be zero emission. From 2035, all new cars and vans will be zero emission.
The key changes to the mandate allow the sale of hybrid vehicles and ICE vans until 2035, and extend the period for manufacturers to meet their ZEV targets. There are also exemptions for small and micro-volume manufacturers.
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