November 30, 2024 – The UK government is reconsidering its electric vehicle (EV) sales targets following warnings and feedback from automakers, announcing plans to hold consultations on its zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) transition regulations.
In January of this year, the government unveiled a roadmap to achieve a ZEV transition by 2035, with ambitions to have 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans in the UK be ZEVs by 2030, and a goal of 100% zero-emission new car sales by 2035. The regulations mandated that automakers sell increasingly higher proportions of electric vehicles each year, facing fines if they failed to comply.
However, automakers have begun to push back against these regulations due to unmet demand for electric vehicles. They argue that the UK’s ZEV mandate could cost them £6 billion in 2024, posing a threat to jobs and the attractiveness of the UK as a manufacturing hub.
According to Reuters, Vauxhall announced on Tuesday that it would be shutting down its van factory in southern England, resulting in the loss of over 1,000 jobs, while Ford also announced last week that it would be laying off 800 workers in the UK.
Business Minister Jonathan Reynolds stated that Stellantis, the parent company of Vauxhall, had been negotiating with the government regarding the ZEV mandate until their decision to close the Luton plant. He attributed the situation to the confusion caused by the previous government’s policies, which extended the deadline for the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars while maintaining the ZEV transition policy.
“They moved the goalposts but kept the fines, the acceleration, and the thresholds the same. They gave no flexibility or pragmatism in terms of how the policy would operate, and it’s led to a transition that’s out of kilter and caused a significant drop in consumer confidence,” commented Reynolds.
