The government has opened a review of the UK’s zero-emission vehicle mandate, asking manufacturers and the wider automotive industry whether annual electric-vehicle sales targets remain appropriate as companies contend with trade, supply chain, and investment pressures.
The consultation will examine the pathway towards ending sales of new cars powered solely by petrol or diesel in 2030 and requiring all new cars and vans to be zero emission by 2035.
It covers the operation of the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes Order, including the annual ZEV trajectory, existing compliance flexibilities, possible alternative approaches, and technical changes to the regime.
Responses are open until 23 October. The evidence could lead to amendments following a review that government had previously committed to completing by early 2027.
The process does not change the 2030 or 2035 end points. It instead examines the route manufacturers must follow towards them and whether annual requirements remain commercially workable under current market conditions.
Electric-vehicle demand has continued to grow. More than one in four new cars sold in the UK is now electric, according to government figures, while EV sales in July were 45% higher than a year earlier. More than two million electric vehicles are registered on UK roads.
The market is also being supported through grants and infrastructure spending. The government says its Electric Car Grant has helped more than 160,000 buyers since launching last year, while its wider package of support for the transition totals £7.5bn.
That includes £4bn connected with DRIVE35 automotive projects and a further £3.5bn covering vehicle grants and charging infrastructure.
The policy review arrives as manufacturers make long-term investment decisions about assembly plants, batteries, vehicle platforms, software, and powertrains while managing more immediate pressure from tariffs and international supply disruption.
Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said: “It’s right we keep targets under review to ensure they’re practical and back British industry.”
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders chief executive Mike Hawes said the consultation was “a timely opportunity to adjust the transition so it works for all.”
Manufacturers have already committed billions of pounds to electrification. The commercial pressure arises from the pace at which consumer demand develops relative to the regulatory requirement for companies to sell a rising proportion of zero-emission vehicles.
If regulatory targets move materially ahead of demand, manufacturers may have to increase incentives, alter their product mix, or use the flexibilities available within the mandate. Those measures can weigh on margins at the same time as companies are funding expensive new vehicle programmes.
Greater flexibility could ease that near-term pressure but may also affect the pace at which charging infrastructure, supply chains, and consumer adoption develop. The review therefore has to reconcile industrial competitiveness with a policy intended to create a predictable long-term market for cleaner vehicles.
The UK manufacturing base gives that balance wider economic significance. Nearly £130m of matched funding announced earlier this month is supporting zero-emission and automated-vehicle projects linked with more than 1,800 manufacturing jobs.
Manufacturers are simultaneously exposed to pressures outside environmental policy. Component shortages, tariff changes, currency movements, and weaker demand in export markets can affect production and cash flow while companies continue funding the transition to new vehicle technologies.
Global competition has intensified as manufacturers from China, Europe, the US, and elsewhere expand electric-vehicle production and compete on cost, range, technology, and software.
Charging availability remains part of the same commercial equation. Government says the public network now includes more than 120,000 charge points, alongside more than one million chargers installed at homes and workplaces. Existing funding is intended to support more than 100,000 additional public chargers.
Infrastructure has to expand alongside vehicle adoption. Drivers are less likely to switch to electric vehicles if charging is difficult or unreliable, while charging operators need sufficient utilisation to justify continued investment.
The mandate is designed partly to break that circular problem by giving manufacturers and infrastructure investors greater visibility over future demand. Changing the annual trajectory would therefore have consequences for vehicle production, dealerships, energy networks, charging operators, fleets, and component suppliers.
The consultation now gives those groups until October to submit evidence before ministers decide whether the existing structure needs to be amended. The 2030 and 2035 end dates remain in place; the question under review is how much flexibility manufacturers should have on the route towards them.
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