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The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate is currently under review by the UK government, with a public consultation open until 23 October 2026. There are reports that the current target of 80% of new car sales to be zero emission by 2030 may be watered down, potentially to as low as 50%. The charging industry claims that if this happens it would have a serious impact on the UK’s charging network.
To drill down to the detail of how this could affect charge point operators – and for an update on other latest developments with public charging – we interviewed Tom Hurst, UK Country Director at Fastned, a charging company that is continuing to expand its network of ultra-rapid charging stations in the UK and Europe.
Tom confirmed that the ZEV Mandate provides investment certainty for charge point operators as well as for vehicle manufacturers. If the ZEV Mandate is diluted, it would change the investment landscape. In practical terms, this would mean that the public charging network won’t grow as quickly, with the development of more marginal charging locations – such as sites away from main routes and centres of population – being less likely to be prioritised in the medium to long term as they would be less economically viable. So investment wouldn’t stop, but it’s likely that it would slow down, meaning an impact on the experience of EV drivers.
Of course, even if the ZEV Mandate targets are watered down, car buyers are likely to continue the shift to electric cars. EV sales in August 2026, traditionally a quiet month for car sales, reached 30% market share, with factors such as the current war in the Middle East keeping petrol prices high, encouraging many people to consider electric cars, regardless of the ZEV Mandate. It’s a similar picture with EV sales figures in many European countries. The winners are companies (globally) selling EVs, so it would seem sensible for UK car manufacturers to sell more EVs, not less.
While the current ZEV Mandate targets exist, Fastned is continuing with its expansion across the UK. The company has recently opened its 40th hub in Liverpool, a new site is due to be completed in Inverness, and Fastned is partnering with Transport for London (TfL), with a new charging hub of 36 ultra-rapid charge points due to open at Hangar Lane off the North Circular Road in London, an area where home charging isn’t always possible.
The ZEV Mandate’s role in incentivising more electric vehicles to be on the roads also means that other developments with the public charging network can happen. Fastned is constantly increasing the power output of its chargers, in line with the latest car technologies, with 400 kW units now being installed, which are some of the fastest ultra-rapid chargers in the UK. Tom stressed that Fastned’s charging hubs need to be scaleable as technology continues to progress.
Fastned chargers are powered with electricity from renewable sources, and since 2013 have featured solar canopies over the charging hubs. Fastned also uses battery storage at its sites, but Tom says that a sizeable grid connection is still essential. The process of getting new grid connections has been extensively debated at industry events over recent years, with delays and high costs frequently being quoted. Tom says that he is now receiving fewer responses that say ‘no capacity is available’, with a key change being that ‘zombie projects’ that have been blocking real projects and causing queues with Distribution Network Operators (DNOs) have been cleared out. Strategic investment in the UK energy’s infrastructure is also making a difference.
Another frequently-quoted action that could be taken to help the transition to EVs in the UK is to reduce the cost of electricity for public charging. Tom believes a number of things could be done by the government, including removing the current level of 20% VAT on electricity for public charging to bring it in line with the rate of VAT on electricity for home charging, which will reduce from 5% to 0% from October 2026. Changes to the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) could also be made, which, in the UK, only applies to liquid fuels. However in Europe the RTFO includes electricity, in other words it relates to charge point operators (CPOs) as well as petrol forecourt operators, meaning that CPOs could sell their RTFO credits to petrol forecourt operators, which could potentially help to reduce the cost of public charging by around 10 pence per kWh.
In terms of improving the customer experience when charging (which Fastned is rated highly for), Fastned features Autocharge, which allows drivers to plug in their EV without needing to make a physical payment, but Tom says that improved interoperability with EVs and charging/payment ecosystems is needed to expand this (which is happening in Europe). Fastned also works with over 100 different roaming providers in nine countries, but Tom is keen to make the point that one universal charging card already exists in the form of a user-friendly bank card, which we agree with.
So what’s the conclusion about the ZEV Mandate review? A report commissioned by industry body ChargeUK, ‘Powering a decade of growth: the economic impact of UK EV charging’, shows that the EV charging sector is poised to contribute £15.5 billion to the UK economy over a decade, but a stable ZEV Mandate is key to unlocking this growth. On the other side of the debate there are calls from some voices in the UK automotive industry for the ZEV Mandate targets to be weakened. For the sake of the charging sector, as well as the climate and air quality, and of course drivers who can save significant costs by driving an EV, it would seem that the sensible solution is to keep ambitious EV sales targets.
From the point of view of UK automotive, an impartial look at the car industry today – with the increasing sales and economic success of Chinese EV manufacturers – would suggest that unfortunately the ideal solution is for the UK automotive industry, its leaders and the government to go back 10-20 years in time and have the foresight to see that vehicles would have to be greener, and to ramp up investment in EVs sooner.
Paul Clarke
Editor
Green Car Guide
