Jun 27, 2026 · 28 min · 9 segments
00:00:00 EV news this week: four stories, one Bootcamp episode 00:01:30 Is the government quietly giving up on the ZEV mandate? 00:07:30 Could you really lease an EV for £77 a month? 00:12:00…
OK, so is the government quietly giving up on the ZEV mandate? Yes, and EVA England is furious about it.
Reports suggest that ministers are preparing to soften the ZEV mandate targets after pressure from manufacturers.
And in an open letter sent this week, EVA England's chief executive has told the transport secretary that backing off now will hurt bioconfidence at exactly the wrong moment.
This landed in my inbox literally yesterday.
I'll just put a graphic up quickly so you can see that as well.
It's about as fresh as this show gets.
EVA England, that's the official body representing UK EV drivers, wrote directly to Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, warning that if the government waters down the ZEV mandate again, it sends exactly the wrong signal to drivers, manufacturers and investors.
Quick reminder on what the ZEV mandate actually does, because it's easy to lose track on the detail.
It's a manufacturer obligation, not a driver obligation.
It requires every carmaker selling in the UK to ensure a set percentage of their annual new car sales are zero emission.
For 2026, that target sits at 28%.
Miss it and manufacturers face financial penalties.
Whether or not underlying demand has fully caught up yet.
There's a second, arguably bigger ask buried in that same letter.
Scrap the EVED pay per mile road charge entirely, or at least, at the very least, delay it to 2030.
Quick reminder on what EVED actually is too, because I get asked this constantly.
It's a proposed per mile charge on electric vehicles from 2028, designed to replace the fuel duty that EV drivers currently don't pay.
In principle, fine, petrol and diesel drivers have always paid per mile, though fuel duty baked into the pump price.
So there's a genuine fairness about argument for EVs eventually contributing something too.
Nobody serious is arguing EVs should pay nothing forever.
But the way it's currently designed asks drivers to estimate and prepay their mileage upfront rather than billing on what you've actually driven.
EVA England's own survey found 76% of drivers earning under £26,000 are worried about the upfront cost, compared with 56% of the highest earners.
That's not a minor design quibble buried in a consultation document.
That's the policy landing hardest on exactly the household the EV transition most needs to bring along if it's going to reach beyond early adopters.
OK, so is the government quietly giving up on the ZEV mandate? Yes, and EVA England is furious about it.
Reports suggest that ministers are preparing to soften the ZEV mandate targets after pressure from manufacturers.
And in an open letter sent this week, EVA England's chief executive has told the transport secretary that backing off now will hurt bioconfidence at exactly the wrong moment.
This landed in my inbox literally yesterday.
I'll just put a graphic up quickly so you can see that as well.
It's about as fresh as this show gets.
EVA England, that's the official body representing UK EV drivers, wrote directly to Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, warning that if the government waters down the ZEV mandate again, it sends exactly the wrong signal to drivers, manufacturers and investors.
Quick reminder on what the ZEV mandate actually does, because it's easy to lose track on the detail.
It's a manufacturer obligation, not a driver obligation.
It requires every carmaker selling in the UK to ensure a set percentage of their annual new car sales are zero emission.
For 2026, that target sits at 28%.
Miss it and manufacturers face financial penalties.
Whether or not underlying demand has fully caught up yet.
There's a second, arguably bigger ask buried in that same letter.
Scrap the EVED pay per mile road charge entirely, or at least, at the very least, delay it to 2030.
Quick reminder on what EVED actually is too, because I get asked this constantly.
It's a proposed per mile charge on electric vehicles from 2028, designed to replace the fuel duty that EV drivers currently don't pay.
In principle, fine, petrol and diesel drivers have always paid per mile, though fuel duty baked into the pump price.
So there's a genuine fairness about argument for EVs eventually contributing something too.
Nobody serious is arguing EVs should pay nothing forever.
But the way it's currently designed asks drivers to estimate and prepay their mileage upfront rather than billing on what you've actually driven.
EVA England's own survey found 76% of drivers earning under £26,000 are worried about the upfront cost, compared with 56% of the highest earners.
That's not a minor design quibble buried in a consultation document.
That's the policy landing hardest on exactly the household the EV transition most needs to bring along if it's going to reach beyond early adopters.
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