DfT consultation puts the 2030 ZEV target at 80% while reports say a cut to around 60% is due in mid-November
A cut to the 2030 ZEV mandate from 80% to around 60% is reported, not proposed, with a government spokesperson saying no decisions have been taken.
A cut to the 2030 zero-emission vehicle mandate for cars, from 80% to around 60%, is reported but not proposed by government, which says no decisions have been taken.
The Department for Transport’s consultation on the mandate, published in August, sets out the current level: “For cars, the ZEV target starts at 22% in 2024, rising steadily to 80% of cars by 2030.”
For vans, the target starts at 10% in 2024 and rises to 70% by 2030. The consultation includes a section on uptake trajectories, with alternative options for cars and vans.
Automotive World reported that the government is expected to cut the 2030 target in mid-November, from 80% to around 60%, and extend compliance flexibilities to 2034.
It said Louise Haigh, the Cabinet Office minister, is expected to finalise the plan after a Downing Street meeting on 11 November.
The same report said Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds wanted 50%, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander favoured about 60%, and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh wanted to keep 80%.
A government spokesperson said “no decisions have been taken” and that the government remained committed to 100% zero-emission new car and van sales by 2035.
The consultation itself describes that commitment as “unwavering”, covering the phase-out of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and all new non-zero emission cars and vans by 2035.
The 2026 position is the nearer test. Battery-electric cars took 26.6% of new car sales in the first ten months of 2026, against a 33% target, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
In 2025, 22.8% of new car registrations in the UK were zero emission, the consultation says.
The published schedule rises from 38% in 2027 to 52% in 2028, Automotive World said. It climbs a further 14 points in each of the two years after that.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, the car industry’s trade body, said: “The gap between demand and mandated targets continues to widen”.
Flexibilities already exist. Manufacturers can use CO2 conversion, where overcompliance on emissions offsets the ZEV target until 2029, subject to caps and repayment by 2030 with 3.5% compound interest, the consultation says.
Automotive World reported that manufacturers can also offset undershoots through hybrid vehicle sales and by borrowing against future battery-electric volumes.
Combined with flexibilities extended to 2034, it said, a 60% target would give carmakers a gentler slope towards 2030 and more room to miss it.
The EU is also revisiting its car CO2 rules. In December 2025 the European Commission published an Automotive Package that proposed reducing its 2035 target to 90%.
Shane Brennan, chief executive of ChargeUK, which represents charge point operators, told The Guardian: “Weakening the mandate puts £1.7bn of charging infrastructure at risk and all the associated jobs and supply chain spending that goes with it.”
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