Toyota, for example, had previously threatened “there would be an impact on a number of areas” of its business in the UK if full-hybrids – like the Corolla it builds at Burnaston in Derbyshire – were banned from sale alongside pure-ICE cars in 2030.
And Kia’s UK boss Paul Philpott told Autocar recently that clarity on post-2030 hybrid sales “will help us make final decisions about product line-up during that period”.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had previously urged the government to recognise “the role that all technologies – including hybrids, plug-in hybrids and hydrogen – have to play in decarbonising road transport, as either stepping stones towards, or full delivery of, a zero-tailpipe-emission market by 2035”.
Meanwhile, the government has confirmed that pure-ICE vans can stay on sale through to 2035, along with hybrid and PHEV vans.
The fines for missing the ZEV mandate targets have also been reduced, from £15,000 to £12,000 per car for each manufacturer that misses the target.
Low-volume car makers exempt from rules
The revisions to the ZEV mandate also include a new exemption for “small and micro-volume” manufacturers from the ZEV targets and the new 2030-2035 hybrid requirements, so they now don’t need to follow mainstream firms in achieving an 80% EV sales mix in 2030.
The government cites McLaren and Aston Martin as specific examples of companies that will be granted the exemption, but the ‘small volume’ definition applies to any firm producing fewer than 2500 cars per year.
The decision will help with “pressing some of the UK car industry’s most iconic jewels for years to come”, said the government.
Currently, neither Aston Martin nor McLaren sell an electric car, and Aston recently delayed the launch of its first EV in favour of a new line of plug-in hybrid sports cars. This new exemption will give those companies – along with Bentley, Rolls-Royce, Lotus and LEVC – more time to transition their customers from combustion cars to EV alternatives.