The ZEV mandate has been hailed as the Government showing intent to encourage the switch to electric vehicles, especially after Labour reinstated the 2030 deadline to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles.
However, any changes to the targets could impact the uptake of electric vehicles. It comes just weeks after the UK saw more than 99,000 new EVs join the road in September.
The joint statement reads: “We are profoundly disappointed that the Government is considering weakening the ZEV mandate. The mandate is not only Britain’s biggest carbon-reduction policy of this decade, but it is also one of the strongest economic, energy security, and air pollution policies the UK currently has.
“By bowing to automotive lobbying rather than doubling down on the clean transport transition, the Government is neglecting its duty to safeguard respiratory health, reduce healthcare costs for our overburdened NHS, reduce our reliance on volatile foreign energy, and protect our climate.”