The UK government is reported to be preparing an early review of the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate, according to The Times, after sustained lobbying from established carmakers. Ministers are said to be set to announce it this week. The 2030 ban on new pure petrol and diesel cars — with hybrids permitted until 2035 — is reported to be unaffected.

What is under review is the interim curve. The mandate currently requires 80% of new car sales to be zero-emission by 2030; reporting suggests that figure could be cut to 70%, 60% or even 50%. None of this is confirmed by the Department for Transport, no consultation document has been published, and no dates have been set. Treat the numbers as reported, not decided.

The reaction, by contrast, is entirely on the record — and it has not come from the carmakers who asked for the review.

What the EV sector actually said

Tayna Sinclair, chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK, put it most directly: "The ZEV mandate isn't the problem. The problem is many of those responsible for delivering it are spending more time complaining about demand than creating it."

Gurjeet Grewal, chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles, argued the policy is working on its own terms: "The ZEV mandate is working. EVs are increasingly the best-value cars on the road and sales continue to grow at a remarkable pace."

Delvin Lane of charge point operator Instavolt raised investor confidence — the concern that runs underneath all of this. Kelly Butler, director at BEAMA, said weaker EV targets simply do not add up for household finances. Dr Andy Palmer, chair of Electric Vehicles UK, allowed for some flexibility on the route: "The destination remains BEV, with efficient REEVs playing a useful role along the way."

Why charging operators, not owners, are loudest

The split is not carmakers versus environmentalists. It is vehicle manufacturers on one side and the charging and energy industries on the other, and the second group's objection is specific.

Public charging is built years ahead of the cars that use it, financed against a forecast of how many EVs will be on the road. The mandate is that forecast, written into law. Cutting the 2030 figure from 80% to 50% does not merely slow adoption — it revalues every charging network business case in the country, retrospectively, after the money has been committed. That is why the operators are louder about this than the drivers.

The number that started it

The manufacturers' case rests on a real gap. The SMMT says demand is tracking some 10-13% below the level compliance requires, and its chief executive Mike Hawes has argued that the mandate can force supply but cannot force demand, leaving carmakers discounting heavily to move metal.

Both things are true at once: July set a record 27.5% UK EV share and still missed the mandate. Ministers were already expected to soften the 2030 target back in June. What changes if the review is confirmed this week is the speed — and, for anyone financing charge points, the certainty.