Reynolds refuses to rule out further changes to ZEV mandate
The business secretary has swerved calls from the automotive industry to rule out further changes to the controversial zero-emissions-vehicle mandate (ZEV mandate), saying he would continue to engage with industry to ensure it did not pose a threat to jobs or the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs).
Jonathan Reynolds told the SMMT’s annual conference that while the government was “extremely committed” to the transition, there was a review clause in the current ZEV mandate framework that allows it to change the policy again if the market demanded it.
Asked whether he would rule out future changes to the mandate, the secretary of state said: “I think it’s ok to say we’re extremely committed… to manufacturing vehicles in the UK, that we’re completely committed to the transition. But of course, any sensible government monitors market conditions and… I would never tell [carmakers] that we’re not willing to engage with the industry.”
Reynolds’ comments come after years of uncertainty over the mandate, which was introduced in 2024 and forces car manufacturers to hit steadily increasing annual sales targets for electric cars and hybrids or face hefty fines.
Last November, the business secretary was forced suddenly to announce a consultation into the drive, after the Dutch carmaking giant Stellantis cited it as a factor behind the closure of its van manufacturing plant in Luton.
ZEV mandate the subject of heavy lobbying
It was then the subject of heavy industry lobbying, with much of the automotive industry saying the more punitive elements of the push – including its inflexibility and the fierceness of the fines – made UK carmaking uncompetitive.
The consultation culminated in Reynolds watering down some of the policy’s sharper elements, loosening rules around hybrids and providing greater flexibility on targets in the run-up to 2030.
But other industry heavyweights have warned that more damaging than keeping the rules would be continued uncertainty for the fragile automaking sector, which has already been forced to adapt to other multiple high-profile ZEV overhauls. As well as Reynolds’ change, Rishi Sunak chose to push the deadline for full EV adoption back to from 2030-2035 during his premiership.
Vicky Edmonds, chief executive of electric vehicle trade body EVA England, warned lawmakers against further changes, arguing that “political rhetoric” and inconsistency had damaged consumer take-up of EVs.
And referring to Sunak’s deadline delay, Autotrader director Ian Plummer said: “Consumer confidence was dented when people were told [not to do] the thing you’ve previously been told you should be doing.”
But addressing the same summit, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith launched a withering assessment of the policy, calling for it to be ditched altogether.
“The ever changing zero emissions vehicle mandate… is detrimental to the market share of… wildly successful European manufacturers,” he said. “Big export markets like the US, the Gulf and Asia are remaining ICE (internal combustion engines) markets. The world has not followed our lead.”
He added: “History teaches us that sustainable industries that have agency about their own future are built upon real demands from real consumers, and that state intervention is a poor substitute for this.”