Exclusive: Submissions seen from companies on both sides of zero-emission vehicle mandate
Several of the world’s biggest carmakers lobbied the UK government to try to weaken or delay rules to accelerate electric car sales and cut Britain’s carbon emissions.
Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) and Nissan were among the companies to ask for delays in enforcement of the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate that obliges them to sell increasing proportions of electric cars or face heavy fines, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
However, Volkswagen, Ford and Tesla argued that the ZEV mandate should be tougher.
The lobbying was contained in responses to a government consultation shared with the Guardian by Tom Riley, the author of the Fast Charge, an industry newsletter.
In September, Rishi Sunak pushed back a ban from 2030 on all sales of petrol and diesel cars to 2035. However, despite delaying the flagship green policy, the government stuck with the related ZEV mandate plans to force carmakers to sell more and more electric cars each year. Under the ZEV…
