UK’s ZEV mandate becomes law

The UK government’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, its pathway towards all new cars and vans being zero emission by 2035, is now law.

The ZEV mandate sets out the percentage of new zero emission cars and vans manufacturers will be required to produce each year up to 2030.

It states that 80 per cent of new cars and 70 per cent of new vans sold in Great Britain will now be zero emission by 2030, increasing to 100 per cent by 2035.

For 2024, 22 per cent of all new UK car sales from each qualifying brand must be zero-emissions, with the percentage gradually rising each year.

This year, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) will be subject to a £15k penalty per non-compliant car. If an OEM does not meet the target percentage for that year, then there are options to mitigate the fines including buying ‘credits’ from other OEMs who have a surplus.

The ZEV mandate became law yesterday, 3rd January, and follows the decision taken by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak last September to delay the ban on new diesel and petrol cars from 2030 to 2035, putting the UK in line with other countries such as France, Germany, Sweden and Canada.

The UK government claims this will allow time for consumers to make the choice to switch to electric, and for it to improve its electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The new ZEV mandate will only apply to England, Wales and Scotland and not Northern Ireland. This is against the backdrop of Northern Ireland currently having less than one per cent of UK’s total charging points.

The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents car and commercial retailers across the UK, has said that an “alarming proportion” of Northern Ireland’s EV chargers are “antiquated and unreliable”, and is concerned that the country will fall further behind the rest of the UK.

NFDA chief executive Sue Robinson said: “Whilst the ZEV mandate is certainly a step in the right direction, the government needs to offer more attractive price incentives and look to improve EV charging infrastructure across [the UK] to increase consumer confidence in electric and help drive the country towards its net-zero commitments.”