CCC's advice to the Government on the impact of its changes to the ZEV mandate: comment

“The CCC’s letter repeats concerns that the changes the Government is making to its EV sales targets could incentivise the sale of plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) - vehicles that burn 350% more fuel, and emit 350% more CO2, than their manufacturers claim [2] - at the expense of EVs. The dramatic gap between PHEVs' claimed and real-life fuel consumption figures inevitably means they will cost their owners significantly more to run than they are being led to believe.

"The UK’s best-selling PHEVs offer their owners savings of just £117 a year over their petrol equivalents – savings that jump to over £1050 a year were drivers to opt instead for an EV. [3] This means the Government’s changes to the mandate risk leaving British drivers and families stuck paying hundreds of pounds a year more to drive more polluting vehicles that don’t deliver the mileage they claim.

“There is real jeopardy for the UK car industry of getting left behind. The Government’s changes to its EV targets could encourage the UK's car industry to focus on increasingly obsolescent hybrid petrol-engine cars, rather than the electric vehicles to which the world is decisively moving - putting jobs and factories at risk.”