Britain | Electric dreams

Britain’s electric-car roll-out is hitting speed bumps

Some clumsy EV targets will probably get revised. After that, the road should get smoother

Rows of red, white and blue Tesla electric cars, stored on a dock side awaiting distribution
Photograph: Alamy

The final months of 2024 should have been a landmark moment for Britain’s car industry. For the first time electric vehicles (EVs) consistently made up more than one in five new cars sold (see chart 1). In 2019 that figure was closer to one in 50. Instead, the mood has been soured by a row with the government. A new zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate is kicking in, which requires at least 22% of each carmaker’s sales in 2024 to be EVs. That will rise to 28% in 2025, and again each year until 2030, when the government wants to end the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles entirely.

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This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Electric dreams”

From the December 7th 2024 edition

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