Under the options set out in the consultation, the target could be cut to as low as 50 per cent.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has previously called the current mandate a “fantasy” and welcomed the review.
Addressing the Environmental Audit Committee last week, Matthew Croucher, chief economist for the SMMT, said that consumers were already moving towards electric cars.
But pushing the mandate faster than the market could absorb would result in higher costs and lower consumer choice, he warned.
He said: “I think the industry would generally welcome a slowdown in the rate of the trajectory.
“So we’ve just had the consultation and the SMMT response to that was that we would like to see a move towards the lower options provided, because it’s a very costly transition.
“I think everybody’s wedded to electrification. The industry has brought more than 180 battery electric vehicle models to the market, so there’s a huge array of products out there.
“The consumers are shifting towards it but, at the moment, they’re still being heavily supported in that transition.
“If you had a trajectory more in line with where we see natural demand moving towards, then that would mean it wouldn’t be quite so costly to shift towards that.
“The concern is at this point in time if you push the market too quickly then you end up having to potentially reduce volumes, or restrict choice to the consumer. And that ends up being more costly and also more damaging to the industry in the short term.”

