Overview
- Reports on Sunday say Prime Minister Keir Starmer has overruled Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and agreed to reduce the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) 2030 target from about 80% of new car sales to roughly 50%.
- Any change is not final: the government is expected to launch a formal consultation in the coming weeks and any new mandate would need backing from devolved administrations to apply UK-wide.
- Automakers, Business Secretary allies and Unite have pushed for the shift, arguing current quotas force large discounts, risk plant closures and threaten roughly 183,000 direct jobs in the UK car sector.
- Investor and charging-industry groups warn weakening the ZEV target could undermine private capital commitments to public chargepoints and damage long-term investor confidence in UK electrification.
- If adopted, the change would lower annual EV sales quotas, likely reduce the scale of manufacturer discounts that have kept some EV prices low, and intensify political tensions inside Cabinet and with Scotland and Wales.