Ford threatens to restrict petrol car sales to meet the UK’s EV targets

Ford could resort to limiting the sales of its petrol cars in the UK, as it struggles to meet the electric car sales targets laid down in the government’s Zero-Emissions Vehicle Mandate.

Introduced at the start of this year, the ZEV mandate requires manufacturers to ensure that a minimum percentage of their overall sales are battery-powered, or face fines of up to £15,000 for every ICE car sold over the limit. This year, the target is set at 22 per cent, however, while EV sales continue to grow due to fleet demand, private buyers are proving reluctant to make the transition and EV targets are looking hard to meet. According to the latest industry figures, fewer than 17 per cent of models registered in April boasted zero-emissions powertrains. 

Ford, which currently only has the Mach-E in its EV passenger car line-up, is one of the manufacturers feeling the pressure. The company’s European boss of its ‘Model e’ electric car division, Martin Sander, told the Financial Times’ Future of the Car Summit: “We can’t push EVs into the market against demand. We’re not going to pay penalties. We are not going to sell EVs at huge losses just to buy compliance. The only alternative is to take our shipments of [engine-powered] vehicles to the UK down, and sell these vehicles somewhere else”.

Sander warned that the impact of such a move could mean inflated prices for traditional petrol and diesel cars if consumer demand for ICE engined vehicles can’t be met by potentially limited supply.

“Demand [for EVs] is behind our expectations now and we are not hitting our ambitious targets,” he said. “We are committed to zero emissions... We just need to be reasonable about it and together find a way to manage to get to net zero in a profitable way,” said Sanders. While that may not mean changing the terms of the ZEV Mandate, Ford and other manufacturers are very keen for the UK government/taxpayers to share the burden of the industry’s compliance through more incentives to increase new EV demand.

Ford’s EV line-up will be expanding with an electric Ford Explorer set to join the line-up in the summer, sharing parts with the Volkswagen ID.4 and Skoda Enyaq. A zero-emissions version of the top-selling Ford Puma is on the way in the near future, too, with the Blue Oval also already selling electric versions of its popular Transit van range.

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