The UK government is stepping up its commitment to a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, requiring 100% of new vehicles be zero emission by 2035.

The UK’s new laws went into effect January 3, 2024 and require that 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in the country be ZEV by 2030, with that number going up to 100% by 2035. The UK government touts its mandate as the most ambitious of any country in the world.

“Alongside us having spent more than £2 billion in the transition to electric vehicles, our zero emission vehicle mandate will further boost the economy and support manufacturers to safeguard skilled British jobs in the automotive industry,” said Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Anthony Browne.

“We are providing investment certainty for the charging sector to expand our charging network which has already grown by 44% since this time last year. This will support the constantly growing number of EVs in the UK, which currently account for over 16% of the new UK car market.”

The UK is continuing to expanding its charging network to ensure it keeps pace with the transition to ZEV.

The UK’s charging network continues to grow at pace – there are now over 50,000 public chargepoints, with 44% more than this time last year, putting the country well on track to reach 300,000 chargepoints by 2030. The certainty of the ZEV mandate will give industry renewed confidence to invest in our infrastructure.

“We are pleased to host the minister at our most powerful EV charging hub in central London to mark the start of the ZEV mandate,” said Akira Kirton, Vice President, bp pulse UK.

“This mandate instils confidence in our strategy, reaffirming our plans to invest £1 billion over 10 years to continue to develop hundreds of EV charging hubs across the country by 2030 to bolster the UK’s charging infrastructure.”