Burnham government reportedly weighing cut to 2030 EV sales target

Andy Burnham’s government is reportedly considering easing the UK’s electric vehicle sales targets, in what would be a significant U-turn on the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate trajectory inherited from Sir Keir Starmer.

The Financial Times reports that officials have sounded out manufacturers on whether a 60 per cent EV sales target by 2030 could be supported — down from the current 80 per cent, electrive reported. Under the option described by the FT, the remaining 40 per cent of new cars would have to be hybrids, with pure petrol and diesel models no longer eligible for registration from 2030.

The reported sounding-out comes as the Department for Transport’s consultation on the mandate’s future closes at 11:59pm on 23 October. The review, launched on 14 August, offers four options: keeping 80 per cent, or reducing to 70, 60 or 50 per cent — with all new cars and vans required to be fully zero emission by 2035 under every scenario.

According to the FT, the business department is pushing to cut the target as far as possible to help manufacturers facing Chinese competition, while the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is resisting to protect climate goals, Fleet News reported. Ford and Nissan had reportedly called for the target to be cut to 40–50 per cent of battery-electric vehicles, and Mr Starmer’s business secretary Peter Kyle had previously planned a cut to 50 per cent.