Electric car sales targets could be eased as demand flags

At a meeting last week with Reynolds and Transport Secretary Louise Haigh, car firms called for more flexibility to be built into the regulations.

Nissan, which builds EVs at its plant in Sunderland, has said the rules are “undermining the business case for manufacturing cars in the UK, and the viability of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds in investment”.

Last week, its rival Ford announced it will cut 800 jobs in the UK over the next three years. It said this was partly because of weaker demand for EVs.

The BBC understands that, while the government remains committed to meeting Labour’s manifesto target of ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, it is willing to consider changes to the mandate.

A number of options have been suggested, including adding flexibility by allowing sales credits to be transferred between cars and vans, giving credit for British-made EVs sold abroad, or new incentives to encourage private buyers to choose EVs.

In its manifesto, Labour insisted it would bring forward the target date for ending sales of new petrol and diesel cars to 2030. It is understood that target is still seen as non-negotiable, and the annual quotas will not be changed.

While the government is willing to alter the mandate in other ways, it wants the industry to reach broad agreement on what those changes should be.

Haigh said earlier this month that the government will look at “flexibilities” but insisted that “the mandate will not be weakened”.