Ministers poised to cut electric-car sales targets by a quarter
The government is expected to lower its zero-emission vehicle mandate this week, with a Downing Street meeting on Wednesday likely to approve a 2030 target of about 60% of new car sales instead of 80%, and to extend the scheme’s flexibilities to 2034. Battery cars made up 26.6% of sales in the first ten months of this year against a 33% requirement. Andy Burnham has recused himself because his wife advises a charging company; Louise Haigh chairs the meetings.
The mandate currently steps up from 28% in 2025 and 33% in 2026 towards 80% by 2030, with all new cars zero-emission by 2035; the consultation offered options from no change down to 50%, and the cabinet split — Jonathan Reynolds favouring 50%, Heidi Alexander around 60%, Miatta Fahnbulleh and Ed Miliband holding at 80%. The policy is reckoned to deliver nearly 14% of all planned emissions cuts between 2028 and 2032, so the Climate Change Committee’s numbers will move with it. No 10 says no decision has been made and the eventual position will be “pragmatic and balanced”; a spokesperson repeated the commitment to end sales of cars relying solely on petrol and diesel by 2030. The industry is split too: the SMMT’s Mike Hawes warns of the mandate’s “heavy cost” to carmakers, while ChargeUK’s Shane Brennan says a cut “puts £1.7bn of charging infrastructure at risk” and would be “a third change in three years”. Kemi Badenoch called the mandate “well-meaning, but ultimately destructive”; Zack Polanski condemned a “shocking record of backsliding”. The timing is awkward: Jackdaw has been approved and the Treasury has trimmed more than £3bn from the energy department. Watch Wednesday.