The government has revealed the percentage of new zero emission cars that manufacturers will be required to produce each year.
Pushing back to the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2035 was one of a raft of weakened net zero policies unveiled by Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in late September, with the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate then launched a few days later. Within this, the government is requiring 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Britain to be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100% by 2035. Interim targets include for 22% of new cars being sold in 2024 to be zero emission.
Rather than leading the world as it has often claimed to do, the government said stopping the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2035 puts the UK in line with other major global economies, while also bringing certainty for manufacturers and gives more time for a second-hand electric vehicle (EV) market and EV infrastructure to grow.
Flexibility is also afforded to manufacturers through a trading scheme in the ZEV mandate. This means they can bank compliance in years where they find themselves exceeding annual targets to then use in future years, or trade them with other manufacturers that have fallen short. For the first year, for example, manufacturers will be able to borrow up to 75% of their annual target, dropping to 25% in 2026.
