The UK has an EV mandate in place that calls for 80 percent of new passenger vehicles sold in the country being battery electric by 2030. According to the BBC, the ban on the sale of new vehicles with infernal combustion engines was first introduced by Boris Johnson in 2020, with the phaseout date scheduled for 2030. His successor, Rishi Sunak, moved the date back to 2035. His policy called for 28 percent of new vehicles sold in 2025 being ZEVs, rising to 33 percent in 2026 and reaching 80 percent by 2030. 2,020,373 new cars were registered in the UK in 2025, their third successive year of growth and the highest total since the pandemic. Electric cars accounted for 473,340 of those new registrations — a market share of 23.4 percent. That’s pretty good. For those who believe in the S-curve theory of new technology adoption, that is well on the way to EV dominance — eventually. But it still fell short of the ZEV mandate of 28 percent for last year. Companies that fail to comply with the ZEV mandate face a potential fine of £12,000 per car. They also have the option of buying credits from other companies who have sold more electric cars or low-emission conventional cars than they needed to in order to comply with the mandate. To sell their quota of EVs, many automakers discount their products, which means they struggle to be profitable. Those discounts have cost the UK auto industry more than £10 billion over the past two years, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which told the BBC that “unless there is urgent relief of the mandate, which is still running well ahead of demand and about to ramp up, then the cost will be in jobs, investments, and the viability of some businesses.” Opposition To Mandates Automakers and UK trade unions have been lobbying to water down those mandates for years, citing concerns about costs and loss of jobs in the automotive sector if the mandates were enforced. Unite union general secretary Sharon Graham said failure to act on the mandate would be “an act of self-harm to a sector which is a jewel in the crown of UK manufacturing.” However, industry sources say drivers are reluctant to buy EVs because of worries about range and the lack of EV charging points. They claim those concerns have contributed to EVs failing to hold their value when they are sold second hand. James Alexander, who heads the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, said that watering down the ZEV mandate could slow the rollout of more charging points. He called the mandate “vital for driving investment into our charging infrastructure” because it has “given the market confidence to commit vast sums of private capital to building out these networks across the country. Any attempt to water down these targets could send warning signals to these investors about the government’s long-term commitment to electrifying our transport network.” The UK government has announced it will hold a consultation on what the new 2030 target should be, meaning it could take months before it is decided, but numbers ranging from 50 to 70 percent are under consideration, the BBC reported. That plan has provoked a backlash from companies like Polestar and Octopus Energy. Input From Octopus Energy Greg Jackson, the CEO of Octopus Energy, told The Guardian this week that the government had chosen “short-termist incumbent lobbying instead of the long-term future of industry.” In addition to being the UK’s largest retail energy provider, Octopus is also heavily involved in electric vehicle leasing and charging. “The fossil fuel market is shrinking globally and our best hope is to speed up development of electric vehicles, not go the other way. This hesitation undermines the credibility of government commitments which were supposed to give certainty to investors.” Delvin Lane, the chief executive at InstaVolt, which operates a network of fast chargers, said, “Charging investment runs on long lead times, and operators need a stable, credible policy framework to plan, build, and attract capital. We would urge government to work closely with the charging sector as it finalizes any changes.” Vicky Read, the chief executive of the industry lobby group ChargeUK, said weakening the target was an “astonishing” proposal which could cost tens of thousands of jobs in the longer term. “The charging sector has plowed billions into putting chargers in the ground on the basis of this policy, ahead of profitability. This government said it would not flip-flop like the previous one did. To move the goalposts again would be exactly that.” More Combustion Engines Mean More Pollution The proposed relaxation of EV rules could result in millions more cars with internal combustion engines on British roads and significantly higher carbon emissions. The government recently added plug-in hybrids to the list of vehicles that qualify for compliance with its low- and zero-emissions rules. PHEVs produce about 135 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer compared with about 166 grams from gasoline-powered cars, according to Transport & Environment. Electric cars produce no direct carbon emissions and have much lower total lifetime emissions. Matt Galvin, the managing director in the UK for Polestar, which is owned by Geely, said that “Weakening these targets allows car manufacturers to decelerate development of EVs at a time when they should be doing exactly the opposite and accelerating their investment and product offering.” A Department for Transport spokesperson told The Guardian, “The UK EV market is strong, but we’ve always said we’ll review the mandate to ensure taking a pragmatic and balanced approach that supports British industry and continues to drive investment.” The Trouble With Mandates There is an inherent problem with mandates — people just naturally do not like being told what to do. Call it pure cussedness, but we all bridle when given an ultimatum. During the prior US administration, there was a concerted attempt to construct a series of incentives to encourage the transition to a lower-emissions economy. Call them carrots, if will. They were far more gentle than the sticks that mandates create. The problem, of course, is that industry cherishes predictability and the UK — much like the US — seems hellbent on cataclysmic changes in governments on a regular basis, which obliterates the predictability that business needs to be profitable. The Chinese have a much more mature approach. They put a premium on five-year plans and stick to them. Most of the time they achieve their goals ahead of schedule. China also adjusts its carrots and sticks from time to time. Recently, it tightened the rules that apply to plug-in hybrids and it has lowered or eliminated some incentives within the past few years. But as the latest Chinese market report indicates, there were NO cars with internal combustion engines in the list of top ten selling cars in China last month. Overall, the country is at about 63 percent EV and PHEV sales and rising. Education Is Needed We at CleanTechnica would like to modestly suggest that education is more effective than mandates. If people are concerned about range or charging performance, that suggests that providing them with accurate information to allay their fears might be the more effective route. Mandates did not make cell phones or microwaves or laptop computers the mass market successes they have become. Advertising and word of mouth did that. And yet, have you heard of any EV education efforts where you live? Have any local car dealers held a “get to know about EVs” day recently, complete with live music, hot dogs, popcorn, or test drives? Have they made it easy for people to actually sit in an EV or learn how to charge it? Is anyone telling people they can charge at home by plugging into an ordinary wall outlet instead of purchasing an EV charger and paying an electrician big bucks to install it? EV Drivers Save Big In response to the backing and forthing by the UK government on EV mandates, Carbon Brief this week reported that BEVs are roughly four times more efficient than cars with combustion engines. “In total, the more than 2 million BEVs, 1 million PHEVs, and 100,000 electric vans on UK roads are saving drivers around £3 billion a year. In addition, these EVs are avoiding the need for nearly 2.5 billion liters of fuel and cutting carbon dioxide emissions by nearly 7 million tons each year,” it said. That is education at work. Most people do not know how efficient EVs are because no one has ever told them. The conversation is always about miles per gallon instead of miles per kWh. It is time to change the focus and educate people about how much energy our fossil fuel industries waste. It’s time to get butts in seats for test drives of electric cars. My old boss in the car business always said “The feel of the wheel seals the deal.” It’s time to act like we want the EV revolution to succeed instead of constantly reacting to the nattering nabobs of negativism who are always tearing down clean energy and clean transportation. Drivers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your emissions!