Government announces changes to ZEV Mandate
Mon 07 April 2025
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The Government has announced changes to the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate which will see manufacturers permitted to sell hybrid cars and vans until 2035. New vans with internal combustion engines can also be sold until 2035. The announcement was made against the backdrop of the US President's tariff announcements which are challenging for UK vehicle manufacturers.
In addition to the extension of hybrid vehicle sales to 2035, the announcement included some additional flexibility for manufacturers: while the updated ZEV mandate keeps the key phase-out dates and targets in place, there’s now more flexibility for manufacturers to shift more EV sales to later years, when demand is expected to be stronger. The level of fines for failure to meet the mandated targets is also being reduced.
There are also exemptions for small manufacturers including McLaren and Aston Martin from the requirements of the ZEV Mandate.
The announcements are part of a raft of changes to the Mandate following a consultation launched by the Department for Transport (DfT) in December 2024, which closed in February.
The ZEV Mandate required manufacturers to ensure 22% of new car sales were fully electric in 2024; a target which will rise to 28% this year and 80% by 2030. Manufacturers were also targeted with ensuring that 10% of all new van registrations were zero emission last year, increasing to 16% this year.
The Government says that the changes give increases flexibility for manufacturers to balance the annual targets against each other and avoid fines by selling more battery electric vehicles (BEVs) in later years.
Fines for those manufacturers not able to meet ZEV Mandate targets will be reduced by 20%, from £15,000 to £12,000 per car, and from £18,000 to £15,000 (18% less) for vans. The Department for Transport says it expects that very few firms will incur any charges.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP said the Government had “struck the right balance” between protecting British businesses and cutting carbon emissions.
She said: “It is an opportunity for the car industry to remain at the cutting edge of the transition to EVs, but it’s right that we’re pragmatic.
“It’s right that we are looking at how we can be flexible in the way in which car manufacturers make this transition, because we want cheaper EVs to be available for consumers. We want people to be able to benefit from those lower running costs as well.
“And so it’s important that, as a Government, we do everything that we can – not only to support British businesses and manufacturing to grow the economy, but also to cut those carbon emissions, and I think we’ve struck the right balance in the package that we’re announcing today.”
Green party transport spokesperson Siân Berry MP said: “This is just the latest in a series of boosts the Labour Government has given fossil fuel industries. We’ve also seen the green light being given to airport expansion and a new road tunnel under the Thames.
“Slowing down the move away from fossil-fuelled transport makes no economic sense either, since green sectors of the economy are growing three times faster than the overall UK economy.”
Image: Courtesy Unsplash
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