The Department for Transport says that UK carmakers are on track to hit their zero emission vehicle mandate targets two years in a row according to the latest figures it has published today. 

The announcement comes on the same day that car industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders launched an extraordinary broadside against the government’s ZEV regime, calling for the rules on zero emission targets to be ditched and redrafted. 

The latest complete year of data to be published is for 2024, while the figures for 2025 will take a while to administer due to the complexities of working out final sales numbers and what overall CO2 targets each carmaker will have to meet. 

There’s also a complex set of mechanisms that water down the CO2 targets depending on how many EVs and PHEVs have been sold by a brand. 

The government says that it has been “backing industry and drivers” to switch to electric cars thanks to the ZEV mandate, electric car grant and investment in charging infrastructure. It says that the plug-in grant alone has helped more than 75,000 drivers buy a new EV. (Check out the full list of electric cars that are eligible for the plug-in grant here…)

The government minister in charge of decarbonisation, Keir Mather, said: “These numbers show the transition to electric is on track. We’re investing over £7.5 billion to support manufacturing, roll out chargers across the UK, and back British industry by boosting sales through our electric car grant.”