THE Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which takes effect from January 2024, should increase vehicle supply to the UK and see the re-introduction of discounts as manufacturers seek to meet their targets.
Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, told delegates at the Broker News chaired Leasing Lowdown session at the BVRLA Industry Outlook Conference that one of the “big motivators” for the ZEV mandate is to “unblock” the supply of electric vehicles (EVs).
The ZEV mandate sets a stepped minimum annual target to be met by OEMs, starting with a requirement for 22% of new cars sales and 10% of new van sales to be zero emission in 2024, rising to 100% by 2035.
Northern Ireland is not part of the scheme initially as the Northern Ireland Assembly is not sitting at the moment but the ZEV mandate has gone through the devolved parliaments in Britain.
This is a kind of law that can only be changed or revoked in the future if all of these parliaments agree so it's a really solid and stable piece of legislation, which in these politically uncertain times is actually a really important point.
Flexibility for manufacturers in the early years
Manufacturers who don’t achieve the ZEV mandate sales targets will be subject to fines. However, as manufacturers aren’t all approaching the ZEV Mandate in the same position there is quite a lot of flexibility in the first three years of the scheme, Ben said.
This means that manufacturers have the opportunity to delay compliance on the basis that they will overcomply in the future.
Looking at the BEV share of new car sales up to November 2023, Ben pointed out that the BMW Group is one of the OEM groups which sells diesel and petrol cars not just EVs, which looks “pretty strong”, whereas Ford and Toyota have a “long way to go to comply with this legislation”.
BEV share of new van sales have been “all over the place recently”, Ben said. However, the Stellantis Group and Nissan Group are currently at the top.
Responsibility to find the right buyer for electric vans
The BVRLA Industry Outlook Report notes that the narrative surrounding electric vans (eLCVs) has to “flip 180 degrees and focus on what they can do, rather than their shortcomings”.
This point was echoed during the Leasing Lowdown session.
We've got responsibility as an industry to find the right person for vans that are here today. Take the cost bit out for now because that's a massive, complex problem, but there are definitely people where this product would work.
Paul Parkinson, founder of Synergy Car Leasing, agreed that leasing companies and brokers have a responsibility for their actions in their marketplace but said there is a need for more “mainstream communication” about eLCVS, particularly from vehicle manufacturers.
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Sarah Tooze has been an automotive journalist for more than 15 years, specialising in the fleet and transport sectors. She has held senior positions at industry-leading B2B titles Fleet News and Smart Transport, and led campaigns championing motorists as consumer editor for online used car marketplace Heycar and motoring advice website HonestJohn.co.uk. In 2017 she won the Newspress Automotive Business Journalist award.
