Ministers are expected to make steep cuts to the government's electric vehicle targets this week, The Guardian reported in an exclusive by policy editor Kiran Stacey. The change would weaken the mandate for electric vehicle sales, which forms a key part of the government's emission reduction plan. The Guardian said the move would relieve carmakers while alarming many Labour MPs who are worried about the government's commitment to the green agenda.

According to The Guardian, Louise Haigh, described as "the de facto deputy prime minister," is likely to weaken the sales mandate. The summary of the report does not give further detail on the scale of the cuts or on the timing of any announcement beyond this week.

BBC News reported that the government's electric vehicle targets are expected to be reduced this week. Its summary sets out the existing framework, under which new petrol or diesel cars are due to be phased out by 2030, and all new cars must be zero emission by 2035. The BBC summary does not say by how much the targets would be reduced.

The two reports differ in how they describe the expected change. The Guardian characterized the cuts as steep and tied them to the political reaction within the Labour Party, while the BBC described the change only as a reduction. Both reports place the expected change in the same week, and neither summary provides an official government statement confirming the details.

Sources: The Guardian: Labour expected to cut EV targets for UK’s car industry despite MPs’ protests; BBC News: Government's EV targets expected to be reduced this week.