The UK Government is reportedly considering relaxing the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate – the rules that require car makers to sell an increasing proportion of electric cars every year.
On the face of it, that might sound like good news for manufacturers struggling to hit targets in an uncertain market. And let’s be clear: these are uncertain times. The global economy is wobbling, tariffs are creating headaches and consumers are watching every penny.
But amid all the debate over targets, fines and regulations, I can’t help wondering if we’ve forgotten the most important question of all: why are we doing this in the first place?
The answer isn’t because electric cars are great to drive – although they are. It isn’t because they’re packed with clever technology – although they are. And it isn’t even because they can save owners a fortune in running costs – although they do, and many EV drivers are saving hundreds of pounds a year compared with petrol or diesel.
No, the original reason for the switch to electric cars was rather more important than all of that. We did it because climate change demanded it. That fact sometimes seems to get lost in today’s increasingly heated debate.
If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that climate change isn’t some distant threat affecting future generations. It’s happening right here, right now.
Of course, EVs bring plenty of benefits. They’re quieter, cleaner in our towns and cities, and are often more comfortable to drive. Many can be charged at home while we sleep, meaning no more trips to the petrol station. Public charging is no longer the pain that it once was and as competition hots up and more affordable models arrive, prices are falling too. According to a new report from New AutoMotive, switching to an EV can save the average household around £900 a year in fuel and running costs.
But none of those reasons was the starting point. The starting point was the planet.
If recent years have taught us anything, it’s that climate change isn’t some distant threat affecting future generations. It’s happening right here, right now. As I write this, Britain is enjoying another spell of glorious summer weather; blue skies, packed beer gardens and the sort of evenings that make us wonder why we ever bother boarding a plane. Wonderful.
Except climate change doesn’t simply mean warmer summers. It means more extremes. Longer dry spells. More intense rainfall. Greater unpredictability.
One minute we’re worrying about hosepipe bans and low reservoirs; the next, communities are dealing with devastating floods. The UK’s Climate Change Committee has repeatedly warned of increasing risks from drought, flooding and extreme heat, while research by the Office for National Statistics suggests hotter weather has already cost Britain tens of billions of pounds in lost productivity over the past two decades.
Britain’s weather has always been a bit eccentric, but it increasingly feels as though it’s becoming more extreme. And nowhere is that more obvious than on Britain’s farms.
If you want an unlikely witness to climate change, look no further than Jeremy Clarkson. After years at Diddly Squat Farm, even Clarkson has spoken openly about increasingly erratic weather and described recent harvests as “shocking”. Farming, perhaps more than any other industry, lives or dies by the weather – and British farmers are increasingly having to adapt what they grow, when they plant and how they manage water.
If you want an unlikely witness to climate change, look no further than Jeremy Clarkson.
When even Clarkson is talking about the impact of changing weather, perhaps it’s time we all paid attention. Which brings me neatly back to electric cars.
Transport remains one of the UK’s biggest sources of carbon emissions. If Britain is serious about meeting its environmental commitments – and those targets exist for a reason – then cleaning up transport isn’t optional, it’s essential.
And here’s the thing: the ZEV Mandate appears to be working. Britain now has more than two million electric vehicles on its roads and over 120,000 public charge points, creating one of Europe’s fastest-growing charging networks. Battery electric vehicles accounted for 23.4 per cent of all new car registrations in 2025, with almost 470,000 sold – nearly double pre-mandate levels.
.jpeg?trim=0%2C33%2C0%2C567)
The policy has also helped attract more than £41 billion of investment into the UK automotive sector since 2020, according to New AutoMotive. An emerging UK battery supply chain is now worth more than £8.5 billion across 14 active projects, while the wider EV sector could contribute £385 billion to the economy and support 334,000 jobs by 2035. Not bad for a policy that came into force only a few years ago.
The benefits don’t stop there. Britain still spends around £43 billion every year importing oil, with transport accounting for almost 60 per cent of demand. Every electric vehicle on our roads reduces our dependence on volatile global oil markets and the geopolitical shocks that can send fuel prices soaring overnight.
As James Court of Octopus Electric Vehicles put it: “Every additional EV makes our energy system more efficient, more resilient and ultimately cheaper for consumers.”
Or as Tim Dexter of Transport & Environment UK said recently: “Accelerating the transition to electric vehicles is now an energy security and economic necessity.”
The ZEV Mandate has also helped attract more than £41 billion of investment into the UK automotive sector since 2020
Energy security is a good point. The rise in sales of solar panels and home battery storage systems shows that consumers have cottoned on to the need to be in control of their own energy supplies – and costs. The jump in fuel prices due to the Middle Eastern conflict was a sharp awakening for many people.
Of course, car makers face genuine challenges, too. Competition from China is intensifying and the transition to electric isn’t cheap. But if there’s one thing businesses repeatedly tell governments, it’s this: give us certainty.
Car companies plan years ahead. Battery plants take years to build. Investments are measured in billions. Ben Nelmes, chief executive of New AutoMotive, perhaps put it best when he said: “The worst signal the government could send to investors is uncertainty.”
Consumers are no different. Move the goalposts often enough and people simply stop buying. If buyers think EV targets might change again, if they believe petrol and diesel deadlines could be delayed yet further, or if they suspect incentives may return later, they’ll simply decide to wait.
And when consumers stop buying cars, nobody wins. Manufacturers don’t. Dealers don’t. Suppliers don’t. And I can’t imagine the unions allegedly keen on softening the ZEV Mandate targets are especially keen on policies that risk putting consumers off buying cars altogether.
The irony is that relaxing the ZEV Mandate to help the industry could end up harming it, with the sort of uncertainty that freezes consumer demand.
Then there’s the suggestion that sustainable fuels might offer an alternative. They undoubtedly have a role to play – particularly in aviation, shipping and perhaps keeping classic cars on the road. But for everyday family cars, the physics is hard to ignore. Producing synthetic fuels requires huge amounts of renewable electricity, only for much of that energy to be lost when it’s burned in an engine. Put that same electricity directly into an electric car battery and it’s vastly more efficient.
This isn’t ideology. It’s physics.
Electric cars won’t solve climate change on their own. Nothing will. But delaying their adoption won’t help either.
We’ve all been enjoying this summer’s sunshine. I certainly have. But as Britain’s farmers know all too well, our climate is changing in ways that are becoming harder to ignore.
In the rush to debate targets, mandates and regulations, perhaps we’ve forgotten the most important reason we started this journey in the first place. Electric cars are part of a much bigger effort to leave behind a cleaner, more stable planet – and roads worth driving on for our children and grandchildren.
Read MoreWhy the next generation of electric sports cars could beat petrol rivals
BMW M’s electric future revealed with wild new M Concept Neue Klasse
I tried a TentBox on my EV – and now I’m a camping convert
I’ve driven the BYD Dolphin G DM-i and I think it’s the best Chinese car yet
I’ve driven Audi’s stunning and super-quick RS5 plug-in hybrid – here’s my verdict
BMW M’s electric future revealed with wild new M Concept Neue Klasse
