A new YouGov survey commissioned by ChargeUK found that 53% of people want UK electric vehicle targets to keep their current pace or speed up. That leaves 37% who want the EV transition to slow down, as pressure grows on Andy Burnham to revise the ZEV Mandate targets again.
ChargeUK said 34% of respondents thought the pace was about right, while 19% wanted it sped up and 11% did not know. The split gives the debate a clear practical test: any change that slows the policy now runs against the majority view measured in the survey.
Labour voters and younger drivers
The survey also showed sharper support among some voter groups. Among people who voted for Keir Starmer and the Labour Party in 2024, 27% wanted the EV transition sped up, 41% said the pace was right and 21% wanted a slowdown. Among Lib Dem voters, 68% supported the same pace or a faster switch to electric vehicles.
Among Green Party voters, 46% wanted a quicker transition. More than a third of 18 to 24 year olds supported speeding up transport electrification, which puts the younger end of the market closer to the faster end of the policy debate than the slowdown camp.
ChargeUK and Octopus Electric Vehicles
Jarrod Birch, head of policy and public affairs at ChargeUK, said: “The British public is supportive of cleaner, cheaper driving — Labour voters especially. 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.”
He added: “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, chief executive of Octopus Electric Vehicles, said: “The message from the public is clear: they don’t want the UK to slam the brakes on the EV transition. Crucially, among younger people – who will live with the consequences longest – a third want to see it go faster.”
Perran Moon and the ZEV Mandate
Perran Moon said diluting the ZEV mandate would carry significant political risks. He also said over 77% of all cars manufactured in the UK are not subject to the UK ZEV mandate because they are exported, and argued that lobbying of Government is really aimed at delaying the banning of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030.
The current argument now turns on whether Andy Burnham takes another look at the ZEV Mandate targets. The survey does not settle that policy choice, but it does show the political cost of slowing the transition: the majority in the poll wants pace maintained or increased, while only 37% want a slowdown.
