UK EV Sales Were Higher Than Mandated In 2024

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The UK’s ZEV mandate required that 22% of new vehicle sales be zero-emission vehicle (electric vehicle) sales in 2024. The industry exceeded that, though, according to data just released by the UK’s Department for Transport (DfT). Well, that is, if you take CO2 credits in the Vehicle Emissions Trading Scheme (VETS) into account.

The auto industry rose to 19.8% of new vehicle sales being ZEV in 2024, but taking those VETS CO2 emissions credits into account. Those bring the percentage to 24.1%, well above the 22% requirement.

In other words, the UK is ahead of schedule on its aggressive EV market mandates, despite various automakers claiming in other markets that they can’t transition so quickly. Unfortunately, this also means automakers can slow down on the transition. “This overachievement enabled manufacturers to bank EV credits for future years, in which the EV target will become increasingly higher,” Autocar writes.

“It also meant credits could be traded between manufacturers under the Car Registration Trading Scheme (CRTS). On top of this, some manufacturers ‘forward-borrowed’ 1.2% worth of EV registrations in order to avoid fines.”

I’m not a fan of this kind of policy — that if automakers overachieve, they can just slow down. Why not simply take and celebrate the overachievement, especially in a time when we are moving too slowly to decarbonize? However, at least the country is overachieving!

“The DfT revealed that EV credit trading prices were running at a much lower cost than £12,000 per-car fine that the government would impose for failure to reach the EV target,” Autocar adds. “Around 39,000 CRTS allowances were traded between manufacturers — equivalent to 2.1% of the total market in 2024 — at an average of approximately £4000 each.”

It’s a similar story in the light vehicle market, with automakers ahead of schedule, but largely due to CO2 credits — “while only 6.8% of new LCVs registered in 2024 were electric, CO2-related reductions boosted the figure by 5.3% to 12.0%, against a 10% mandated target.”

However, automakers continue to lobby in the UK, as elsewhere, to water down EV mandates and loosen their requirements. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) claims that the cost across the industry to the 2024 and 2025 requirements totaled $10 billion.

And note that the policies were already watered down. “The revised regulations also mean credits can be traded between cars and vans, and all credits can now be banked until 2029; originally this allowance was due to end this year.” Additionally, the fine for failing to meet requirements was lowered from £15,000 per car to £12,000 per car. Though, it’s still cheaper to simply buy CO2 credits from others rather than to pay those fines.

Overall, it’s good to see that the UK auto industry is electrifying quite quickly and meeting targets. However, it’s a little disappointing that automakers continue to lobby for watered down policies — but I guess that’s just something we can’t expect to ever change. That said, as pictured at the top, compelling Chinese electric vehicles are gaining more and more of a foothold in the market, and they should apply enough pressure on the legacy automakers to just keep up the work electrifying.