SMMT update – A mandate review is urgently needed
The UK automotive sector is a cornerstone of the national economy – supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs, driving innovation and attracting billions in investment. It is also central to achieving net zero. The transition is underway, with manufacturers investing at scale and bringing an unprecedented range of zero emission vehicles to market.
Despite these investments, improving infrastructure, government incentives and high fuel prices, uptake is still not keeping pace with ambition. Zero emission market share continues to fall short of ZEV Mandate targets.
Targets alone do not cut emissions – new vehicle uptake does. Consumers and businesses will only switch when conditions – and costs – are right. Automotive has invested heavily and continues to do so to create those conditions. However, consumers consistently cite familiar reasons to hold off: cost, uncertainty about infrastructure, whether an EV will meet their driving needs. Add in a prospective additional tax in the form of a pence per mile VED charge, and such wariness is natural.
For all the new products now available – increasingly in the smaller and more affordable segments of the market – the gap between uptake and ambition is still having to be patched over by unsustainable manufacturer discounting. Over the past two years, industry has absorbed more than £10 billion in costs from EV discounting to artificially drive up demand – not a model for long-term success.
Chargepoint rollout is improving. But is it still keeping pace with EV take up? The ratio of public chargepoints to plug-in vehicles has deteriorated, down to one charger for 24 vehicles last year, compared with one for 20 in 2024. In every region except London and the South West, ratios have worsened and there remains massively uneven distribution, with London far better served that any other region in the country.
Such a deterioration comes on top of wider issues serving to undermine EV uptake such as rising energy costs, global uncertainty and weaker consumer confidence – illustrated this week by a new Autotrader survey showing just 10% of recent non-electric car buyers even considered an EV.
It’s clear that the assumptions underpinning the mandate no longer hold. It was designed for a market with stronger demand, greater stability and cheaper energy – not the market we have today. An urgent review of the ZEV Mandate is therefore essential. This is not about weakening ambition, but restoring credibility. Regulation must reflect real-world conditions.
The prize remains significant: secure global leadership, unlock investment, sustain high-value jobs and decarbonise road transport. But success requires a realistic pathway – where policy, provision, infrastructure and demand move in lock step.