Starmer introduces 'flexibility' to zero emission vehicles deadlines

The prime minister has announced new measures to ease the pressure on car manufacturers to meet the Government's Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate rules, including allowing hybrid cars to be sold until 2035 instead of the earlier 2030 deadline.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was still committed to ending the sale of new purely internal combustion engine (ICE) cars by 2030 but would provide car makers with more 'flexibility'.

The changes to the mandate include:

• increasing flexibility of the mandate for manufacturers up to 2030, so that more cars can be sold in later years when demand is higher
• allowing hybrid cars – like the Toyota Prius and Nissan e-Power – to be sold until 2035 to help ease the transition and give industry more time to prepare
• continuing to boost demand for electric vehicles with a new charge-point 'popping up every half an hour'
• tax breaks worth hundreds of millions of pounds to help people switch to electric vehicles.

PM Keir Starmer said: 'Global trade is being transformed so we must go further and faster in reshaping our economy and our country. I am announcing bold changes to the way we support our car industry. This will help ensure home-grown firms can export British cars built by British workers around the world and the industry can look forward with confidence, as well as back with pride.'

PM Starmer added that the changes would make sure that cleaner, efficient petrol cars sold before 2030 would count towards a manufacturer's EV mandate, as it would be ‘good for British car manufacturers’.

Image credit: Shutterstock @Rahayu footage