Labour MP Perran Moon, Chair of the Electric Vehicle All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG), has given his reaction to the Government consultation on the ZEV mandate – describing any watering down of the policy as a worrying retreat from the UK’s clean-power and climate commitments.
Another consultation on the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate and the 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles was launched by the UK Government on Friday (14 August). The review is looking at whether the existing annual targets for vehicle manufacturers remain appropriate, while seeking views on how the UK reaches its goal of ending new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030 and ensuring all new cars and vans are zero emission by 2035.
Professionals from across the transport and energy sectors have given their reaction over the last few days with Perran Moon, who was formerly Chief Marketing Officer and interim CEO at charge point operator Believ, adding his.
In a statement published on LinkedIn, he said:
“We’re at a crossroads in our commitments to clean power by 2030 and minimising the UK’s impact on climate change. Meeting those challenges is complicated, costly and takes time. And there’s high political capital to be paid to deliver them. So this is precisely the moment to be running towards those challenges and not away from them.
“This Labour administration’s willingness to take on those changes will be made clear in the next few months, but I find it worrying that when it comes to policies like the ZEV mandate, the Government appears to be only listening to vested automotive manufacturer interests, relying on dodgy data and rolling back from the greatest challenge of our time.
“Instead we also need to listen to the voices of the entire EV supply chain from UK lithium and battery production companies all the way through to the charge point operators. Billions in future investment and thousands of new green jobs are at risk if the Government sends a signal to the sector that we’re watering down our commitments.”
Moon added one further point in relation to UK car manufacturing, highlighting the proportion of vehicles built in the UK that are exported.
In 2025, 77% of all cars built in the UK were not subject to the UK ZEV mandate because they were exported, he said. This meant that just 161,000 UK-built cars were subject to the mandate.
He added: “We need to keep some perspective in this debate.”
Read Transport + Energy’s full news analysis of the ZEV Mandate debate as Head of Content James Evison looks at the journey to the Mandate, and the current state of play for the changeable policy: https://transportandenergy.com/2026/08/17/news-analysis-the-zev-mandate-debate/
