The Prime Minister Andy Burnham has denied that the government is set to announce an overhaul of the ZEV Mandate this week.
He was responding to a succession of media reports that an announcement was imminent.
The Guardian reported that Louise Haigh is expected to agree this week to cut a target for EV sales by about a quarter.
Mr Burnham is due to attend the Cop 31 climate summit beginning on Monday in Antalya, on Turkey’s southern coast, for the first time as Prime Minister.
“So, these reports are just that: they’re reports, they’re speculation and no decision has been made at this point,” he said in a TV interview.”
The motor industry and dealers have been lobbying for significant cuts to ZEV Mandate targets, arguing the mandate is skewing the market and forcing the EV market.
BEVs accounted for 26.6% of UK new car registrations in January–October 2026, with 503,805 registered, according to the SMMT. October alone recorded a 32.0% share. SMMT
The 2026 ZEV mandate headline target for cars is 33%, putting the year-to-date market share 6.4 percentage points below target
For vans, the position is worse. Sales of electric vans year to October gave EVs a 11% market share, less than half the 24% target set by the Mandate.
