The UK Department for Transport (DfT) is considering the UK’s ZEV mandate for cars and vans.

Following the announcement of the UK adopting a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate in the Net Zero Strategy in October 2021, the DfT is now seeking views on some of the design features that could be included in a car and van regulation.

The Government published a Green Paper on a New Road Vehicle CO2 Emissions Regulatory Framework for the UK. Following consultation, Government announced in its Net Zero Strategy that the UK would introduce a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate setting targets requiring a percentage of manufacturers’ new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024.

The UK is signatory to the COP26 declaration on zero emission cars and vans and is committed to the rapid accelerating the transition to zero emission vehicles to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement.

By 2030 the UK will ban on new pure petrol and diesel car and van sales; hybrids being given extension until 2035, but if vehicles are not fully zero emission, they must have significant zero emission capability (SZEC).

As the ZEV mandate and CO2 emissions regulation will set two targets, there will be two enforcement mechanisms. For the ZEV mandate, fines could be levied on a ‘per certificate’ basis, that is a certain fine per certificate. For the CO2 emissions element, there would be scaled fines based on the number of vehicles sold and how much the target has been missed by.

Many major car manufacturers have already publicly committed to having all of their UK sales zero emission by 2030, and DfT analysis shows these commitments cover over 60 per cent of the total new vehicle UK market share in 2020.

Share Story: