Carmakers push to cut ZEV targets as EV drivers urge ministers to hold firm
SMMT wants the ZEV mandate reformed after every business leader responding to its member survey said the UK is behind the 2030 trajectory, while EV drivers' group EVA England urges ministers not to weaken it.
Why it matters: the ZEV Mandate is due to tighten from January 2027 unless the government's review changes it, and fleets planning BEV procurement need certainty, not a policy wobble. If manufacturers lobby successfully for dilution, targets could shift again after budgets and order books are already committed to next year's ratios - and residual values on the ICE stock fleets are trying to run down would firm up unhelpfully. Either way, the mandate's mechanics don't wait for consensus to arrive.
Two interventions landed in the same fortnight and pull in opposite directions. SMMT's State of the Automotive Nation report, published 30 June 2026, found that every business leader responding to its second UK Automotive Business Leaders Barometer, a member survey of 50 senior automotive leaders, says the 2030 ZEV ambition is behind target, with 73.8% calling the shortfall against the 2030 ZEV Mandate trajectory significant (SMMT). The timing bites because annual targets rise to 38% BEV sales for cars and 34% for vans from January 2027 (SMMT).
Meanwhile EVA England, describing itself as the UK's only independent consumer body for EV drivers, wrote directly to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP on 22 June 2026. Chief executive Vicky Edmonds requested an urgent meeting and warned against weakening the mandate, backing it with a new report, Putting the Driver First (EVA England).
The consumer data in EVA England's letter cuts against the "demand isn't there" argument used to justify softening the mandate. It cites research showing 95% of EV drivers would not go back to petrol or diesel (EVA England). But the same letter is honest about the barriers still standing in the way of the next wave of buyers: an estimated 40% of households have no driveway for home charging, only 5.5% of the total UK car parc is currently electric, and 40% of British consumers remain EV sceptical.
EVA England also flags a policy risk that should worry any fleet running total cost of ownership models years out: a proposed electric Vehicle Excise Duty and the prospect of a future pay-per-mile scheme, both of which would erode the running-cost advantage BEVs currently hold over ICE (EVA England). Upfront cost, the letter notes, remains the leading barrier for lower and middle-income households - which matters for grey-fleet policy as much as for company car choice lists.
The two positions diverge. SMMT says the regulation is running ahead of natural market demand and wants it reformed; EVA England wants the mandate kept as it is, with government attention on the cost and charging barriers drivers face. Until the review concludes, the safest planning assumption is the 2027 target increase as currently set.
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