More than half of UK motorists are either happy with the current speed of the country’s EV transition or believe it should be sped up.
A new survey of drivers by YouGov found that just over a third thought the transition should be slowed down, while 53% either supported the current pace or wanted a faster shift.
The poll, carried out on behalf of industry body ChargeUK, comes amid rumours that the Government is about to launch an early consultation into ZEV Mandate targets.
Reports suggest the target for 80% of all new car sales to be zero-emission by 2030 could be slashed to as little as 50% under the review.
However, the ChargeUK survey suggests most drivers would be opposed to such watering down of the mandate.
Its polling found that 34% of drivers think the current speed of transition is “about right”, and 19% think that it should be sped up. In contrast, 37% believe the shift to EVs should be slowed down, while 11% said they didn’t know.
Interestingly for Andy Burnham’s government, only a fifth (21%) of Labour voters support a slowdown compared to around a quarter (27%) who believe the transition should be sped up. The highest cohort of 2024 Labour voters – 41 per cent – say they feel the pace of transition is about right.
ChargeUK’s Jarrod Birch said that figure shows any change to the mandate could harm Labour’s popularity, especially with younger voters who supported speeding up the transition in greater numbers (36%).
“The British public is supportive of cleaner, cheaper driving — Labour voters especially,” said Birch. “So, if Andy Burnham wants to deliver a voter-backed win for people’s pockets whilst reducing the country’s reliance on foreign oil, he need look no further than committing to an ironclad ZEV Mandate.
“Combined with action to address the policies unnecessarily pushing up the costs of public EV charging, this would ensure even more drivers can enjoy the significant savings from electric driving — on top of the nearly four and a half million EV drivers who are already reaping the benefits.”
Gurjeet Grewal, CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, added: “The message from the public is clear: they don’t want the UK to slam the brakes on the EV transition. There is real demand for electric cars, and the industry is responding. What drivers need now is certainty, not mixed messages. The Government has a chance to give drivers and manufacturers a clear direction of travel and back the transition, rather than risk confusing people by constantly moving the goalposts.”
Away from Labour, the survey found predictable attitudes towards the EV shift. The Green Party was the only one whose voters were more pro-transition, with 30% backing the current pace and 46% keen for it to move faster. Liberal Democrat voters were not far behind with 39% supporting the current pace and 25% backing faster action.
In contrast, Conservative and Reform voters were most likely to back slowing down the transition, with 55% and 67% respectively backing some sort of delay.
