As EV sales, oil costs and temperatures spike, UK gov’t considers… fewer EVs?
The UK government is considering relaxing its landmark electric vehicle rules, even in the face of inflated oil prices, a recordbreaking year for temperatures and wildfires, and EV sales that are already rising fast enough to meet the government’s current target. UK’s electric vehicle targets have gone through a lot of back-and-forth over the years. They were originally set to target 100% new EV sales by 2040, but then that target was pushed forward, then back, then forward again, until eventually landing where it is right now – 80% EVs by 2030 (and the remainder hybrid), and a total ban on sales of new combustion-engine vehicles in 2035. The government has targets for every year, with this year’s end-of-year target being 33% EV sales. Although manufacturers can get away with lower numbers when taking into account extra credit from various sources. And, well, things are going fairly well. At the end of 2025, UK EV sales were high enough to meet 2026 targets. So it looked like, even with what some would call an ambitious …
