Four reasons electric vehicle targets shouldn’t be weakened

The UK government is preparing to water down its electric vehicle sales targets. Under the existing zero emission vehicles (ZEV) mandate, 80% of all new cars sold in Britain needed to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030.

Following sustained lobbying from car manufacturers and trade unions, that figure could be revised down to somewhere between 50% and 70%.

While this shift may be described as a pragmatic response to market realities, the rationale for altering EV targets deserves closer scrutiny. There are four key reasons EV targets shouldn’t be weakened.