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 goal, the UK was on track to meet it.
Geopolitics makes the case for EVs
But then, geopolitics intervened. And made the situation… even better for EVs.
Due to an expectedly disastrous five-month-and-running war of choice in Iran, oil prices have spiked and remained high globally.
This has led the UK to have one of the highest petrol (gasoline) prices in the world, currently averaging £1.62/liter ($8.21/gallon). Diesel prices reached as high as £1.92/L ($9.70/gal), and are currently trending back towards that record.
UK households responded quickly to the disruption, with a sharp increase in solar systems, EV chargers and heat pumps since March. With solar and wind construction setting records in the UK, you might even be able to fuel an electric car for free when there’s a surplus of sun and wind.
But it’s not just about fuel prices, there’s also the issue of national security. Electric cars can be fueled with domestically-produced electricity via any number of generation methods, which leaves a country less vulnerable to oil shocks like the one coming from the Strait of Hormuz, or geopolitical hostage-taking of the sort engaged in by Russian president Vladimir Putin for the last decade, as he expects Europe to roll over while he invades countries due to their dependence on Russian gas.
Several countries are taking notes, and rapidly reducing their reliance on foreign oil. EV sales have tripled in Australia, many developing countries are going all-in on EVs (Ethiopia, Nepal, Pakistan…), and even countries that can weather this oil shock well are seeing an opportunity to electrify.
Oh, then there’s climate change
Additionally, the UK is currently going through its hottest summer ever, with a fifth heat wave looming as we speak, and thousands already dead from previous heat waves this year. Drought conditions currently cover three-fourths of England – the famously sunny… wait, no, that’s not right… famously rainy country, seeing a very different climate than it’s used to.
The burning of fossil fuels is what made this climate change possible. Fossil fuels like petrol release carbon into the atmosphere, warming the climate and increasing the likelihood of extreme weather events, particularly heat-related events.
Science has shown that these heat waves would have been impossible just a few decades ago. In those decades, humanity has emitted more total carbon than it had in all of history prior. And transportation is the largest contributor to climate emissions in the UK.
A recent UK government report shows the threat of climate change to UK’s food security, warning that the UK has “no future” without action.
Not only do combustion engine vehicles contribute to climate change, they also make the air you breathe dirtier. But the UK has seen an example of how things can get better through regulations, as London’s tax on polluting vehicles has been shown to make everyone healthier.
And beyond all of that, the UK has recently experienced record wildfires, a challenge that historically was not an issue in the, again, famously rainy country.
UK EV sales spike in response to crises, beating gov’t expectations
So between record heat waves made more likely by climate change, record petrol prices, and a local example of how clean air vehicles can make things better, what’s a Brit to do? Well, there’s one obvious solution: more electric vehicles. And sales of them have been booming.
The UK seemed to already be on target to meet its 2026 goals at the end of 2025, though that was due to a sharp increase in EV market share that UK commonly sees in December.
At the beginning of the year, the UK was a bit behind EV targets, but it has exceeded them in the last two months, posting record sales in July with BEV sales up 44.5% year over year. Year to date, plug-in vehicles (including plug-in hybrids) account for nearly 40% of new UK car sales.
Economics helps here too, as in the UK, electric cars now have a lower upfront price than petrol cars. That’s thanks to the UK’s lack of tariffs on Chinese EVs, due to its comparatively smaller domestic auto industry.
UK is meeting targets, but industry wants to lower them, and gov’t seems willing
In the face of all this bad news for petrol and good news for EVs, of course the natural reaction is to… double down on petrol?!
That seems to be the tack being taken by the new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, at least according to a report by right-wing UK outlet The Times which says the government will revisit its EV targets. The consultation could reportedly happen “as soon as next week.”
This consultation has been in the works for some time as a result of pro-pollution lobbying.
The auto industry could spend its time meeting targets and supplying the EVs the world wants and needs, an opportunity that forward-thinking countries are profiting wildly from. But instead it argues for more pollution.
That pro-pollution message has been boosted loudly by climate denying media billionaires like Rupert Murdoch and Elon Musk (yes, that Elon Musk, the one who purportedly runs an electric vehicle company yet spends most of his time on twitter, often boosting the far-right outlets trying to stop EVs in the UK).
And that right-wing press has spent years declaring that the government would imminently relax EV rules, both under previous Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who stepped down in June due to unpopularity, and now under new Labour PM Andy Burnham.
Burnham was marketed as a more left-wing and decisive option than the ineffectual and centrist Starmer. As part of the switchover, Burnham retained the services of Ed Miliband, the UK environment secretary who was seen as the architect of much of the country’s net zero policies, and who supports the EV targets. But Burnham shifted Miliband into the post of Foreign Secretary, raising Miatta Fahnbulleh into the environment post, who has hinted at a review of the rules.
A review could take many forms, though most reporting has suggested that it would involve a watering-down of the 2030 80% EV goal to anywhere between 50-70%.
Burnham is also reportedly considering more oil drilling in the North Sea.
Oddly enough, previous iterations of the rules saw significant strengthening under right-wing Tory PM Boris Johnson, while now a supposedly “soft left” Labour PM is considering weakening them. Both parties have had their part of strengthening and weakening the rules, though depending on the conclusions of this consultation, it could have the baffling result of Labour having weakened EV rules more times than the Tories have.
Given UK’s challenges, weakening targets makes no sense
If you’ve been following along with the article, it should be clear that this is not the time to weaken EV targets.
Not only are electric vehicles delivering the energy security and cost savings that the UK (and everywhere) needs right now, they’re also necessary to combat climate change, which is the the largest problem humanity has ever created for itself and needs an immediate concerted effort from everyone to confront. Particularly rich countries that have disproportionately caused the problem.
The UK, despite being the birthplace of coal energy and at times the world’s largest emitter, has made impressive moves to decarbonize in recent years. For the benefit of all Britons, it can and should ignore the whines of the auto industry and climate-denying Murdoch media, and continue that progress by maintaining strong EV targets – which it’s already succeeding at meeting anyway.
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