Battery electric cars took 26.2% of new UK sales in January to September, against 20.2% a year earlier and a 33% target for 2026.3 Government figures show the mandate's flexibilities added about seven points to the effective share in 2025.1
Carmakers selling in Britain must hit a rising share of zero-emission sales under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate: 22% in 2024, 28% in 2025 and 33% in 2026.1 The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reported this month that battery electric cars made up 28.3% of September registrations, a record month, and 26.2% of the first nine months.3
That is still short of 33%, but the target only applies to the full year, and the fourth quarter is usually strong. The fair comparison is with the same nine months of 2025, when the share was 20.2% against a 28% target. The shortfall has narrowed from 7.8 points to 6.8.3
The mandate lets manufacturers offset a shortfall in several ways. They can convert cuts in the emissions of their petrol and hybrid cars into credit, bank surplus from earlier years, borrow against future years, and trade allowances with each other. A manufacturer that still falls short pays £12,000 per car.1
In 2024, electric cars were 19.8% of the market against a 22% target, but the effective share counting flexibilities was 24.5%, so the market complied. For 2025, DfT's provisional data put electric sales at 23.3% and the effective share at 30.5%, against 28%.1 Conversion of emissions savings was the most used route.1
DfT opened a consultation on the mandate on 14 August that closes on 23 October. It asks whether the car trajectory needs changing and whether to extend the conversion, borrowing and banking flexibilities to 2034.1 Separate DfT licensing figures show the underlying market growing: 147,000 zero-emission cars were registered in April to June, 40.5% more than a year earlier.2
The SMMT says that on its forecast of a 2.183 million car market, about 265,000 more battery electric cars would have to be sold in the last three months to reach 33% on sales alone.3 It describes the pace as below what the mandate requires.
DfT has not published 2026 compliance data, so how much manufacturers will rely on flexibilities this year is unknown, and the annual cap on emissions conversion falls over time.1 The 2025 figures are provisional. We could not retrieve SMMT's own release, so the 2026 and 2025 nine-month shares rest on trade-press reports of it. No source here says what the government will decide after the consultation.