Big carmakers lobbied UK to delay electric car rules

UK carmakers have lobbied the government to weaken or delay the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires them to sell increasing proportions of electric cars or face heavy fines.

Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Nissan were among the companies to ask for delays.
However, Volkswagen, Ford, and Tesla argued that the ZEV mandate should be tougher.

The government has pushed back a ban on all sales of petrol and diesel cars to 2035, but despite delaying the flagship green policy, the ZEV mandate plans to force carmakers to sell more electric cars each year. The carmakers who backed delaying the full ZEV mandate argued that the rules came too late for them to change production plans to increase electric vehicle sales.

The government included “flexibility” in the final rules, including provisions for manufacturers of fewer than 2,500 cars a year that exempt them from the rules until 2030.The British sports car makers Aston Martin Lagonda and McLaren both argued that they would be unable to meet the targets. Aston Martin said legal action against supposedly unfair regulations could follow.