EVA England urges Government not to weaken ZEV Mandate in letter to Louise Haigh
The EV drivers' association wants the mandate kept as it is while the review is decided, and says ministers are reportedly considering cutting the 2030 EV sales target from 80% to 60%. It wants the focus moved to upfront cost, public charging prices and a delay to eVED pay-per-mile until at least 2030.
EVA England has written to First Secretary of State Louise Haigh urging the Government not to weaken the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate. The group describes itself as the country's only independent consumer body representing EV drivers. Its letter, dated 12 November 2026, asks that decisions due in the coming weeks on the outcome of the Government's ZEV Mandate review take account of the impact on the wider EV sector, including drivers.
The letter asks the Government to stop the public back and forth over the mandate and keep it as it is. It wants ministers to tackle the barriers holding people back from switching to an EV instead: upfront cost, affordable charging and a charging network that is fit for purpose.
On the web page publishing the letter, EVA England says ministers are reportedly considering reducing the 2030 EV sales target from 80% to 60%. It does not say where this was reported. The same page says the mandate has been identified as the UK's biggest single net zero policy intervention, estimated to deliver almost 14% of required emissions savings between 2028 and 2032. The page does not say who made that estimate.
In the letter, EVA England chief executive Dr Vicky Edmonds writes: "The potential that Government may once again weaken the ZEV mandate is sending the wrong signal to those that we need to buy electric in order to drive up the demand that industry wants to see." She adds that "People are not being mandated to buy electric - they must choose to do so", and argues: "But the answer to increasing the demand we need to see is not to lower ambition and investment in a growing sector. It is to remove the barriers preventing drivers from choosing electric in the first place."
The letter puts EVs at 26.6% of sales so far in 2026 and cites more than 126,000 public chargepoint connections across 48,000 locations. It says the chargepoint sector's economic contribution is expected to reach £15.5 billion by 2035 on the current ZEV Mandate trajectory.
EVA England also cites its own Steer the Conversation 2026 survey of 2,635 UK petrol, diesel, hybrid and all-electric drivers, carried out in August and September. It found that 93% of EV drivers would recommend an EV to friends and family. It also found that 38% said recent Government announcements and policy changes had affected their confidence in driving electric. The survey summary links that effect notably to the proposed eVED pay-per-mile scheme and the public debate on the ZEV Mandate. The share of EV drivers who believe the public charging network is improving fell to 48%, from 69% in last year's survey.
On upfront cost, the letter calls for the Electric Car Grant to be re-targeted at those who need it most. It also says targeted social leasing schemes for middle and lower income households should be considered seriously for the UK, saying they have worked in countries such as France.
On charging, EVA England wants the recommendations of the Cost of Public Charging Review, which the letter says was led by Philip New, implemented in full. It wants this done alongside the Government's commitment to tariff porting, so that prices improve across the whole public network, including rapid chargers. It also calls for an independent statutory body to monitor compliance with the public chargepoint regulations and handle drivers' complaints.
Finally, the letter says eVED, the proposed pay-per-mile scheme, should be delayed until at least 2030.
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