ChargeUK responds to reporting that Keir Starmer considering water down key EV policy

Responding to The Sunday Times' report today that Prime Minister Keir Starmer is considering watering down the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate which sets auto manufacturers’ EV sales quotas, Vicky Read, chief executive, ChargeUK said: 

“That the Prime Minister is considering weakening the key policy underpinning the £385 billion economic opportunity from transport electrification is astonishing. Weakening the ZEV Mandate for a third time would not only slam the brakes on infrastructure rollout and send the entire transition into a tailspin. It would bring Britain’s reputation as a market worth investing in into disrepute. 

“The charging sector has ploughed billions into putting chargers in the ground on the basis of this policy, ahead of profitability. It is expected to support 71,000 jobs by 2035, and we will not see the 334,000 it could provide the foundation for across the automotive sector as it electrifies without the mandate staying as it is. This government said it would not flip flop like the previous did. To move the goalposts again would be exactly that — an act of self-harm denying the country a forward facing, economically prosperous industry leaving us behind the rest of the world.”

The news comes in the week that ChargeUK published a landmark report produced by LCP Delta on the economic potential of the EV charging sector and wider transport electrification. Read the full press release and report here.