Advice
What is the ZEV Mandate and why should you care?
Find out why the ZEV Mandate has been in the news and what it means for you.
Words by: Andrew Woodhouse
Published on 8 April 2025 | 0 min read
The ZEV Mandate has been in the news a lot lately, but what is it? Let’s dig into it.
What does ZEV stand for?
ZEV stands for Zero Emission Vehicle.
These are fully electric vehicles (EVs) or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that don’t produce any tailpipe emissions. Hybrids or plug-ins don’t count, because they still rely on combustion engines to some extent.
These are fully electric vehicles (EVs) or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles that don’t produce any tailpipe emissions. Hybrids or plug-ins don’t count, because they still rely on combustion engines to some extent.
What is the ZEV Mandate?
The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate is a legally binding policy introduced by the UK Government back in January 2024.
Lawmakers wanted to push carmakers to build and sell more electric vehicles to help reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of banning petrol and diesel cars outright, they introduced a credit-based system to encourage manufacturers to sell more zero-emission models over time. Manufacturers are required to ensure a rising percentage of their total sales are fully electric vehicles each year or face financial penalties. The mandate forms a central part of the UK’s wider strategy to decarbonise road transport, improve air quality, and meet its commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The UK isn’t the only country with a ZEV Mandate. California pioneered ZEV mandates in the 1990s, later expanded across other American states. Canada introduced its own version in 2023, and the European Union has adopted CO2 reduction targets effectively requiring all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035. China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market, also uses a credit-based ZEV system to drive adoption.
Lawmakers wanted to push carmakers to build and sell more electric vehicles to help reduce pollution and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Instead of banning petrol and diesel cars outright, they introduced a credit-based system to encourage manufacturers to sell more zero-emission models over time. Manufacturers are required to ensure a rising percentage of their total sales are fully electric vehicles each year or face financial penalties. The mandate forms a central part of the UK’s wider strategy to decarbonise road transport, improve air quality, and meet its commitment to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. The UK isn’t the only country with a ZEV Mandate. California pioneered ZEV mandates in the 1990s, later expanded across other American states. Canada introduced its own version in 2023, and the European Union has adopted CO2 reduction targets effectively requiring all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2035. China, the world’s largest electric vehicle market, also uses a credit-based ZEV system to drive adoption.
Why do we have a ZEV Mandate?
The ZEV Mandate is intended to address several challenges:
• The help reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions • The reduce the levels of harmful pollutants and particulate matter in urban areas. • To reduce our reliance on imported oil by shifting demand to electricity, much of which is increasingly generated domestically from renewable sources. • To give manufacturers and investors with long-term market clarity, encouraging domestic production, supply chain development, and infrastructure investment.
• The help reduce greenhouse gas and carbon emissions • The reduce the levels of harmful pollutants and particulate matter in urban areas. • To reduce our reliance on imported oil by shifting demand to electricity, much of which is increasingly generated domestically from renewable sources. • To give manufacturers and investors with long-term market clarity, encouraging domestic production, supply chain development, and infrastructure investment.
Why should you care?
The ZEV Mandate doesn’t just affect what manufacturers build; it directly affects what you’ll be able to buy.
Petrol and diesel-only cars are already getting harder to find. Non-plug-in hybrids will still be available until 2035, but your next few car choices will be shaped by this policy whether you’re going electric now or waiting While the ZEV Mandate is aimed at the industry, its real impact will be on drivers. It’s aiming to make electric cars more common, more affordable, more practical and ultimately more appealing.
Petrol and diesel-only cars are already getting harder to find. Non-plug-in hybrids will still be available until 2035, but your next few car choices will be shaped by this policy whether you’re going electric now or waiting While the ZEV Mandate is aimed at the industry, its real impact will be on drivers. It’s aiming to make electric cars more common, more affordable, more practical and ultimately more appealing.
Which cars are affected?
Under the ZEV Mandate, manufacturers are obliged to ensure a certain percentage of their annual new car and van sales are zero-emission at the tailpipe.
A recent change to the ZEV Mandate has broadened the type of hybrid cars you will be able buy from up to 2035 to include ‘full’ (sometimes marketed as self-charging) models as well as plug-ins. That means if you’re not quite ready to go fully electric, you’ve got a wider range of options with lower running costs and fewer compromises than traditional petrol or diesel. Non plug-in hybrids can also be cheaper to buy, and are more attractive to those who don’t have off-street parking or access to a home charger. On the manufacturing side, small-volume British brands like McLaren, Morgan, and Bentley have effectively been given a lifeline to keep building cars without any hybrid assistance all the way up to the 2035 deadline for the end of internal combustion sales. While many of these brands are already well on the way to hybridising or electrifying their ranges anyway their small production numbers have granted them the option to also build cars with non-hybrid engines, which is especially attractive to niche manufacturers like Morgan, Caterham and Ariel. Meaning buyers who’ve always dreamed of owning one won’t have to go electric or go home. Winners in all this also include brands like Mazda and Suzuki who have bought in hybrid tech from Toyota to help their transition, as well as those luxury marques who may still want to offer special models with purely petrol-engined options. If you’re in the market for a new car and torn between going electric or sticking with petrol, diesel or hybrid, the government's latest changes give you more time and more options. Hybrid tech is sticking around, niche petrol-powered cars won’t vanish overnight, and the electric push is becoming more carrot than stick (albeit slowly). Learn more about how hybrids are sticking around for longer, or find the best hybrids on the market today.
A recent change to the ZEV Mandate has broadened the type of hybrid cars you will be able buy from up to 2035 to include ‘full’ (sometimes marketed as self-charging) models as well as plug-ins. That means if you’re not quite ready to go fully electric, you’ve got a wider range of options with lower running costs and fewer compromises than traditional petrol or diesel. Non plug-in hybrids can also be cheaper to buy, and are more attractive to those who don’t have off-street parking or access to a home charger. On the manufacturing side, small-volume British brands like McLaren, Morgan, and Bentley have effectively been given a lifeline to keep building cars without any hybrid assistance all the way up to the 2035 deadline for the end of internal combustion sales. While many of these brands are already well on the way to hybridising or electrifying their ranges anyway their small production numbers have granted them the option to also build cars with non-hybrid engines, which is especially attractive to niche manufacturers like Morgan, Caterham and Ariel. Meaning buyers who’ve always dreamed of owning one won’t have to go electric or go home. Winners in all this also include brands like Mazda and Suzuki who have bought in hybrid tech from Toyota to help their transition, as well as those luxury marques who may still want to offer special models with purely petrol-engined options. If you’re in the market for a new car and torn between going electric or sticking with petrol, diesel or hybrid, the government's latest changes give you more time and more options. Hybrid tech is sticking around, niche petrol-powered cars won’t vanish overnight, and the electric push is becoming more carrot than stick (albeit slowly). Learn more about how hybrids are sticking around for longer, or find the best hybrids on the market today.
How does the ZEV Mandate work?
The ZEV Mandate operates through a certificate-based system:
• For every zero-emission vehicle sold, manufacturers earn a ZEV certificate. • Each manufacturer must hold a specific number of certificates by the end of the year, proportionate to the total volume of cars and vans they’ve sold in the UK. • Manufacturers can bank, borrow, or trade certificates with one another to meet targets. • Those failing to meet their obligation face penalties of £15,000 per unmet vehicle target, although this has recently been reduced to £12,000 in some cases under a revised structure supporting industry flexibility. The policy also regulates the petrol and diesel portion of a manufacturer’s fleet, asking them to meet certain CO2 emissions targets to help ensure those vehicles are also becoming cleaner during the transition period. The mandate sets clear year-on-year targets that increase steadily through to 2035. Here’s what it looked like when first introduced: • 2024: 22 per cent of new car sales must be EVs • 2025: 28 per cent • 2026: 33 per cent • 2027: 38 per cent • 2028: 52 per cent • 2029: 66 per cent • 2030: 80 per cent • 2035: 100 per cent The fines for falling short are hefty: originally £15,000 per non-compliant vehicle, later reduced to £12,000 under recent reforms. For van manufacturers, the targets are slightly more lenient but follow a similar curve, with the 2024 target set at 10 per cent, rising to 70 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.
• For every zero-emission vehicle sold, manufacturers earn a ZEV certificate. • Each manufacturer must hold a specific number of certificates by the end of the year, proportionate to the total volume of cars and vans they’ve sold in the UK. • Manufacturers can bank, borrow, or trade certificates with one another to meet targets. • Those failing to meet their obligation face penalties of £15,000 per unmet vehicle target, although this has recently been reduced to £12,000 in some cases under a revised structure supporting industry flexibility. The policy also regulates the petrol and diesel portion of a manufacturer’s fleet, asking them to meet certain CO2 emissions targets to help ensure those vehicles are also becoming cleaner during the transition period. The mandate sets clear year-on-year targets that increase steadily through to 2035. Here’s what it looked like when first introduced: • 2024: 22 per cent of new car sales must be EVs • 2025: 28 per cent • 2026: 33 per cent • 2027: 38 per cent • 2028: 52 per cent • 2029: 66 per cent • 2030: 80 per cent • 2035: 100 per cent The fines for falling short are hefty: originally £15,000 per non-compliant vehicle, later reduced to £12,000 under recent reforms. For van manufacturers, the targets are slightly more lenient but follow a similar curve, with the 2024 target set at 10 per cent, rising to 70 per cent by 2030 and 100 per cent by 2035.
Are there any exceptions?
Yes, to protect low-volume carmakers and the uniqueness of British heritage brands, manufacturers producing fewer than 2,500 vehicles per year are exempt from the ZEV targets. That’s good news if your dream garage includes a Morgan, McLaren, or Rolls-Royce.
There’s also flexibility built into the system: • Manufacturers can borrow credits from future years if they fall short. • They can buy and sell credits between brands so an electric-heavy brand might sell its surplus to one still catching up. • There’s even credit trading between cars and vans, where one car credit equals 0.4 van credits and vice versa.
There’s also flexibility built into the system: • Manufacturers can borrow credits from future years if they fall short. • They can buy and sell credits between brands so an electric-heavy brand might sell its surplus to one still catching up. • There’s even credit trading between cars and vans, where one car credit equals 0.4 van credits and vice versa.
Support measures for car buyers and the wider industry
The UK Government has introduced a number of financial and practical incentives to encourage drivers to adopt electric vehicles, including:
• Plug-in Van Grant: Up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for large vans, extended to at least 2025. • Home Charging Support: A £350 grant is available to flat dwellers or those in rented accommodation to assist with chargepoint installation. • Tax Incentives: EVs continue to benefit from reduced Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rates and exemption from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty (though some of these are being phased out gradually from 2025). • Public Charging Expansion: With over 75,000 chargepoints nationwide and a target to reach 300,000 by 2030, infrastructure investment remains a key focus.
• Plug-in Van Grant: Up to £2,500 for small vans and £5,000 for large vans, extended to at least 2025. • Home Charging Support: A £350 grant is available to flat dwellers or those in rented accommodation to assist with chargepoint installation. • Tax Incentives: EVs continue to benefit from reduced Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax rates and exemption from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty (though some of these are being phased out gradually from 2025). • Public Charging Expansion: With over 75,000 chargepoints nationwide and a target to reach 300,000 by 2030, infrastructure investment remains a key focus.