Were we off track to hit the government’s electric vehicle targets?published at 15:13 British Summer Time
Image source, PABy Ben Chu
As we’ve reported, the UK
government is set to relax its electric vehicle (EV) sales targets in response
to new US tariffs.
Under the existing Zero
Emission Vehicle mandate, the government set a target for fully electric
vehicles (excluding hybrids) to make up 28% of new car sales in 2025, rising
steadily to 100% by 2035.
The average share between
January and March was 21%.
On the face of it, the car
industry was broadly on track for the government’s targets, external.
Last year the target was
22%, but actual EV sales reached just 19.6%. However, existing flexibilities –
like credits for low-emission petrol and diesel cars – meant that the target
was still technically met and no car makers were fined.
But there are concerns.
The
Climate Change Committee (CCC) – in its 2024 progress report – noted that the
EV rollout pace had slowed., external
While carmakers had
outperformed the CCC’s net zero “milestone” pathway for several years – which
tracks the uptake of low-carbon technologies, rather than setting legal sales
targets – progress dipped in 2023.
As a result, the CCC warned
that the EV rollout is now “slightly off track”.
