Car makers including Renault, Volkswagen, Land Rover, Ford and Toyota are falling far behind targets for the UK’s ZEV mandate, which requires 22% of this year’s sales to be of zero-emission models.
Those manufacturers ahead of target include Cupra, MG, Subaru, BMW, Volvo and Jeep, while all-electric brands such as Tesla, BYD and Polestar will be looking to earn useful extra income from selling credits to help out the laggards.
So far this year, 16.6% of all car sales have been electric, according to new figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, indicating that the industry has its work cut out in the second half of 2024.
The penalty for non-compliance is £15,000 per car, although there are ways for those who are falling behind to mitigate that – for example, by selling more plug-in hybrids to outpace their related average CO2 target.
The list of those with an EV mix of less than 10% includes Seat, Suzuki and Land Rover on 0% – none currently with an EV in its line-up.
The wider Jaguar Land Rover group can lean on Jaguar with its 19.9% share of I-Pace sales, but it has also ramped up sales of Land Rover plug-in hybrids to the point that they now account for 37% of its total six-month numbers.
Volkswagen is perhaps the biggest surprise of the year so far, with EVs comprising just 7.9% of its sales. The brand was among the first to come out with a comprehensive EV strategy and offers one of the widest ranges of electric cars, with six models currently available.
However, VW’s EV sales have halved this year compared with last year, while demand for its combustion-engined models, such as the Golf, has shot up.
VW was the UK’s best-selling brand across the six months.
Renault is another surprise, languishing near the bottom at just 7.6% of EV sales in the first half of the year. The French brand was a pioneer of EVs with the Zoe, but its EV sales are currently in a lull while it prepares new models, including the upcoming electric 5 and 4, and ramps up production of the new Scenic.
“This year it’s going to be very challenging to reach the target,” Guillaume Sicard, managing director of Renault UK, told journalists during a mid-year briefing.
Renault, however, is hopeful that its actual EV sales target will be 18-19% of the total after translating some of its emissions reductions from hybrid sales into the final tally.
The scheme allows associated brands to pool together, so Renault will gain from the UK launch of the Dacia Spring later this year.
Renault will still fall short, however, requiring it to borrow or ‘mortgage’ against future EV sales – another loophole available to those struggling to stay on target in the first years of the ZEV mandate.
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