The EU has today (Tuesday 16th December 2025) confirmed it will water down its 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol or diesel cars – a move which has been criticised by leaders from across the clean transport and energy industries.
The European Commission has proposed reducing Europe’s 100% zero-emission car and van sales target to a 90% emissions-reduction goal, alongside new allowances for hybrids and fuels. This would allow a share of plug-in hybrids and other ICE-based vehicles to remain on the market in 2035, for example with potential to account for over a quarter of new car sales based on preliminary estimates.
Over 200 European business leaders had in September called on President von der Leyen to deliver a clear 2035 electrification investment signal in today’s review. Today’s proposal positively maintains Europe’s overall focus on electrification for 2035, but the industry is left disappointed by the lowered ambition and extended lifetimes for transitional or unscalable technologies.
Chris Heron, Secretary General of E-Mobility Europe, commented on today’s proposal:
“While China accelerates, Europe is hesitating, and hesitation is not a strategy. Changing the rules midway through the game undermines business confidence after companies have already committed capital and built factories around a 100% trajectory. But once the dust settles, we’re confident the core of the 2035 framework will still matter more for the market than today’s exemptions. By 2035, demand for electric vehicles will be shaped by their superior cost, efficiency, and technology maturity. Europe’s long-term competitiveness will be most certain when its policies reinforce that trajectory”.
The European Commission also launched a new corporate fleets legislation, battery booster package, and automotive omnibus alongside today’s CO2 limits proposal. The industry is pleased that these files have been delivered, while highlighting missed opportunities – especially the exclusion of heavy-duty vehicles from the corporate fleets proposal despite industry calls for a stronger e-trucks demand pathway.
The Commission’s 2035 weakening comes in a year where European and global electric car and van sales are breaking records. Europe’s electric car market in 2025 is recording the highest growth rate of any mass market, including China. But China already has a major head start, with a 50% market share for electrified vehicle sales and a dominant position in software and supply chains.
E-Mobility Europe urges the Council and Parliament to prioritise actions for further accelerating EV uptake and securing value chains in their upcoming negotiations – but not add any further dilution.
Implications for the UK: a moment for leadership, not retreat
The European Commission’s proposal also has significant implications for the UK, which is currently legislating its own pathway to zero-emission vehicles through the ZEV mandate.
Industry leaders have warned that any move by the UK to follow Europe’s lead by weakening targets or expanding exemptions would risk undermining hard-won investment certainty at a critical moment for the British EV sector.
Chris Heron continued:
“From a European perspective, the UK would be mad to follow our example. It’s the wrong time to take the wind out of EV sales. Electric car markets are growing strongly, yet by reopening the door to plug-ins, hybrids, and unscalable biofuels, we slow ourselves down in a highly competitive global race. We know the future of transport is electric; what isn’t settled is who will build that future, and who will win the investment, jobs and industrial advantage that comes with it. Our message to Westminster is simple: hold the line on ambition, give industry certainty, and don’t muddy the picture just as the transition is accelerating.”
Delvin Lane, CEO of InstaVolt, said:
“If parts of Europe slow down on 2035, the UK has a real opportunity by holding firm on ZEV. Policy certainty brings investment, not just in vehicles, but in charging infrastructure at scale. We’re already seeing strong demand for EVs, backed by a rapidly expanding, reliable charging network that gives drivers confidence to make the switch. Staying the course wouldn’t be a risk; it would be a competitive advantage for the UK market.”
John Lewis, CEO of char.gy, said:
“For the UK, this is a moment to show leadership, not hesitation. We’ve spent years building confidence among drivers, particularly those without driveways, that the transition to electric is practical, affordable and here to stay. That confidence rests on policy clarity. If the UK were to water down its own mandate in response to changes in Europe, it would risk slowing investment in local charging infrastructure and undermining the progress communities are already seeing. The direction of travel is clear: the future is electric. What matters now is giving businesses and consumers the certainty to plan for it.”
Fiona Howarth, Founder & Director at Octopus Electric Vehicles, said:
“Softening EV policy doesn’t protect industry – it gives others a head start. In the global EV race, commitment wins. If Europe slows, the UK can take the lead. Strong policies like the ZEV mandate give carmakers, investors, and drivers what matters most: certainty – unlocking investment, jobs and faster, cheaper electric cars.
The UK has positioned itself as a stable and attractive market for investment in electric vehicles, charging infrastructure, battery manufacturing and grid upgrades. That credibility has been built on the strength and clarity of its regulatory framework. Diluting the UK’s ambition in response to changes in Brussels would send a damaging signal to investors, manufacturers and supply-chain partners, many of whom have already committed significant capital on the assumption that the UK would stay the course.
Tanya Sinclair, CEO of Electric Vehicles UK, said:
“One of the UK’s clear advantages since leaving the EU has been regulatory freedom. It’s what allowed the government to introduce something as ambitious and effective as the ZEV mandate. Set aside the wider economic debate on Brexit, and this point is simple: the UK gained the ability to set clear, forward-looking electrification targets for manufacturers. Walking back from that ambition now, in step with parts of Europe, would mean squandering that advantage and weakening the UK’s position in a global transition that is moving, not slowing.”
Ginny Buckley, the chief executive of Electrifying.com, the electric car buying and advice site, said:
“Brexit gives the UK the freedom to take a different path from the EU, particularly where its policy risks slowing progress. In fact, wasn’t that the whole point of Brexit? But the UK government must make a stronger – and more consistent – case for why drivers should switch and how net zero can power jobs, investment and growth.
“Diluting the 2035 signal now would hand an even greater advantage to competitors in China and South Korea, who are accelerating their EV transition and claiming an increasingly large share of the car market, leaving UK and European car makers fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.”
There is also a strong economic case for maintaining momentum on the UK’s ZEV mandate. Independent analysis by the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) found that weakening the mandate, for example, by slowing the pace of EV sales growth, could leave millions of drivers paying up to £1,600 more a year to run a petrol car than an EV, with the cumulative impact on motoring costs totaling around £40 billion over time. The risk is not just financial for families; it also threatens the broader economic benefits of electrification, including jobs, investment and competitiveness, at a time when global markets are converging on zero-emission transport.
Vicky Read, chief executive, ChargeUK said:
“This adjustment does not change the fact that the transition to EVs is happening. The sale of almost all petrol and diesel cars will cease across the EU by 2035 if not before. Any thought of reopening discussion about the UK’s own ZEV mandate, which already contains flexibilities to support car manufacturers, would be a major over reaction putting billions of investment in charging at risk and undermining driver confidence.
“EV sales have been consistently strong in the UK, supported by the mandate and an EV charging industry that is investing billions of pounds in private capital to roll out critical infrastructure ahead of forecasted demand. The UK’s focus should now be on building on this progress and supporting even more drivers to switch. We should not be looking over our shoulder at the rest of Europe but ahead, towards a future where the UK is a clean transport leader.”
Dominic Phinn, Head of Transport at Climate Group, a non-profit that works with some of Europe’s largest companies committed to 100% electric fleets, said:
“Today’s a tragic win for the entrenched power of an industry clinging to the past over a competitive, forward-looking sector ready to drive Europe into a prosperous future. The watering down of the petrol and diesel-engine phase-out flies in the face of leading companies across Europe, who are investing billions in electric fleets and desperately need the stability it provides. And ironically, it jeopardises the automotive industry as it delays the inevitable, putting Europe in a position where it simply won’t compete with other global markets racing towards electric transport at record speed.”
Head of Transport at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit, Colin Walker, commented:
“The losers here are European families who will be left behind in petrol and hybrid cars that are hundreds of euros more expensive to drive. Recent EU data shows that hybrids use 490% more fuel than their manufacturers claim.
“But there are clear risks too for the European car industry that, in attempting to slow the EV transition, could well become ever more uncompetitive as the world drives forward with electrification.
“Some are already suggesting the UK should follow the EU’s example in watering down its own EV policies, but to do so would cost British families by keeping them in dirtier and more expensive petrol cars for longer. Stable policy will give companies the confidence to invest billions in the UK’s charging infrastructure, and will avoid jeopardising investments in our car industry and its supply chains. It was government policy that saw Sunderland chosen to build Nissan’s original electric Leaf, and today the latest Nissan EV has started rolling off the production lines in the North East, securing jobs for years to come.”
Image courtesy of Shutterstock.
