CO2 savings from the shift to electric vehicles are now having a measurable effect on UK climate action but cheap, clean electricity is needed to help more drivers go EV.

That’s the call from the UK’s climate advisers as they warn that more needs to be done for the UK to hit its legally binding climate targets.

In its first assessment of the new administration’s progress on reducing emissions, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) found that government policies to reduce emissions have improved since last year.

Over the last year, the UK has made progress on reducing emissions. Emissions fell 2.5% in 2024, the tenth consecutive year of sustained reduction in emissions, excluding the pandemic years in 2020 and 2021. The UK’s emissions have halved (-50.4%) since 1990.

The CCC also said there has been positive delivery on key areas, including new car electric vehicle market share, which stood at 19.6% in 2024, and heat pump installations. A lot of the progress is due to previous policy, set out under the Conservatives, but Labour has also made bold policy decisions this year – notably on removing planning barriers on renewable deployment, clarity on the clean power mission, and the reinstatement of the 2030 phase-out date for new petrol and diesel vehicles.

Regarding electric vehicles, there are now 1.5 million electric cars on UK roads, with this number having roughly doubled in the past two years. The average price premium of a new EV fell from 37% in 2023 to 24% in 2024 and trends appear on track to reach price parity between 2026 and 2028. And public charge point installations increased by nearly 40% last year.

But despite the encouraging trends, the independent, statutory body said that electric vehicle and heat pump rollout remain slightly below what is needed and “action must accelerate”.

The market share of new electric vans did not grow in 2024, remaining at only 6.3% compared to 10% in the ZEV mandate. Early 2025 data looks more promising, with market share in the first quarter increasing to 8.3%, but both car and van sales will need to accelerate fast, driven by the falling prices of EVs and continued government support, including the ZEV mandate.

Its priority recommendations include work to make electricity cheaper, which is key to incentivising households, businesses and industries to switch to low-carbon technologies.

The UK’s climate advisers also say the Government should consider options to reduce the cost of local public EV charging in residential areas. Public charging is significantly more expensive than charging at home, though rates vary across different types of public charge point

The CCC also said that the recently announced changes to the ZEV mandate have limited the improvement in its assessment of the Government’s plans this year and warned that the changes risk some weakening of manufacturers’ effective EV sales targets under the ZEV mandate.

Other priority recommendations in the report include work to provide confidence and certainty to scale heat pump deployment in existing buildings, a comprehensive programme to decarbonise public sector buildings, and work to accelerate the electrification of industrial heat.

Trevor Hutchings, chief executive at the REA, said the report showed that net zero is “within our grasp” but “we are still far from job done”.

“As we electrify, we must further incentivise the production of clean, renewable energy to meet the new demand; we must address gaps in policy coverage; and we must ensure consumers quickly feel the full ‘net zero dividend’ through lower electricity bills.”

Colin Walker at the Energy & Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said the report made it clear that EVs will have an increasingly critical role to play in delivering hundreds of pounds in savings to UK’s drivers.

“But, as the Committee has identified, the Government’s recent changes to the ZEV mandate have the potential to undermine this UK success story, by incentivising the sale of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at the expense of EVs. The Government has also ignored advice in the CCC’s report by allowing the sale of regular hybrid vehicles – which offer marginal improvements in CO2 emissions over standard petrol cars – from 2030 to 2035. These moves could keep millions of people stuck driving dirtier and more expensive petrol-engined cars for longer.”

David Hall, Schneider Electric UK & Ireland’s VP power systems, said the report was evidence that the UK has made solid steps towards decarbonisation but added that momentum mustn’t stop here.

“Meeting the UK’s 2050 net zero target will only be possible if we tackle the domestic transport sector, which remains one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases in this country.

“To deliver on a full EV transition, we need targeted government support and investment in the UK’s charging infrastructure. Without reliable, well-placed, and accessible chargers, there’s a real risk that drivers could lose confidence in the system, putting the UK’s net zero goal of phasing out petrol and diesel cars by 2035 in jeopardy.

“Improved collaboration and funding will mean we can reinforce public trust in the shift to EVs and accelerate towards wide-scale electrification.”

To read Climate Change Committee’s report on progress in reducing emissions, please click here.