UK’s delay of EV targets could undermine £1.5bn infrastructure rollout, industry warns

The UK government is planning to soften annual sales mandates for electric vehicles with plans to lower the 2030 target from 80% to 50-70%, according to a ten-week consultation launched by the government last week.

The planned changes to sales targets are due to criticism from the car manufacturing industry and trade unions, who argue that there is a mismatch between sales targets and consumer demand. Twenty-seven percent of all new cars sold in the UK this year will be electric, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), marking a stark increase from last year, though somewhat below the government’s 33% target.

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But a rollback of existing targets risks triggering unintended consequences, with manufacturers being forced to review the rollout of new critical infrastructure.

Weaker targets could delay up to £1.56bn in EV home charge point sales and installations, according to new research by BEAMA, the trade body for manufacturers of energy infrastructure.

The trade body also warns that up to 12 GW of flexible charging capacity to be rolled out by 2034 could be at risk, undermining UK ambitions for more flexible charging infrastructure.

Weaker EV sales targets will also drive up emissions, with additional petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid cars sold under the 50% scenario likely to generate 71MtCO2e over their lifetimes, BEAMA warned.

Matthew Adams, head of Electrical Transport Systems at BEAMA, said: “Government needs to decide whether it is mandating or meandering. Manufacturers have invested millions against the trajectory the Government set. If the targets keep changing, the case for investing, expanding and creating well-paid, highly skilled jobs that support communities, becomes harder to make.”

Fresh uncertainty over EV sales volumes poses a challenge for institutional investors who have increasingly started to back EV rollouts as part of efforts to diversify their climate investments beyond more traditional renewable infrastructure assets.

For example, Aviva Investors has invested £110m in 2022 and a £10m ordinary equity investment in 2025 (alongside £55 million from the National Wealth Fund) in Connected Kerb to grow its charging network in the UK. The manager also announced a €30m investment in Erapid (now trading as EZO) to develop further sites across its growing EV-charger network in Ireland.