To sell their quota of EVs, many car makers use discounts. This has cost the industry more than £10bn over the past two years, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The SMMT told the BBC that “unless there is urgent relief of the mandate, which is still running well ahead of demand and about to ramp up, then the cost will be in jobs, investments and the viability of some businesses”.
Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said failure to act on the mandate would be “an act of self-harm to a sector which is a jewel in the crown of UK manufacturing”.
Industry sources say drivers are reluctant to buy EVs because of worries about their range and the lack of EV charging points. They say this has also contributed to EVs failing to hold their value when they are sold second hand.
However, the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association’s (UKSIF) chief executive James Alexander said that watering down the ZEV mandate could slow the rollout of more charging points.
He said the mandate is “vital for driving investment into our charging infrastructure” as it has “given the market confidence to commit vast sums of private capital to building out these networks across the country”.
“Any attempt to water down these targets could send warning signals to these investors about the government’s long-term commitment to electrifying our transport network,” he added.
According to poll by researchers More in Common commissioned by UKSIF, 74% of Britons want their council to maintain or increase support for the rollout of EV charging points.
In total, 2,020,373 new cars were registered in 2025, the third successive year of growth and the highest total since the pandemic.
Electric cars accounted for 473,340 new registrations last year, giving them a market share of 23.4%.
That was a significant increase on 2024, but still below the 2025 ZEV mandate target of 28%.
Of the 9.8 million cars sold in the UK last year the vast majority, some 7.8 million were second-hand and they are not included in the ZEV mandate.
Correction 15 June: A previous version of this article said the companies faced a £15,000 fine for failing to hit the ZEV mandate. The fine was lowered from £15,000 to £12,000 in in April 2025.
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