Britain’s car and commercial vehicle plants generated a record 60.3GWh of renewable electricity last year amid growing calls for urgent energy and planning reform to ensure factories can invest in green energy to produce the EVs the country needs to deliver net zero ambitions.
Solar panels and wind turbines installed by vehicle manufacturers at their production facilities generated 30.3% more electricity last year compared with the year before. This clean, green energy – increasingly used for producing zero emission vehicles – helped save almost 12,500 tonnes of CO2 across the year,1 according to the industry’s 26th Sustainability Report, published today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
Manufacturers continue to invest in more efficient production processes, delivering a -2.4% fall in energy required to produce a vehicle, despite declining volumes. However, with electrified models – which require more energy to manufacture than conventionally fuelled vehicles – accounting for more than a third (35.4%) of UK new car production in 2024, and with new zero emission models and gigafactories in the pipeline, overall demand for affordable clean energy is set to grow exponentially.
Commitments to decarbonise the UK energy mix will require further investment in renewable energy supply, and UK automotive manufacturers have developed extensive plans to do so – but lengthy grid connection delivery timelines, currently averaging nearly 14 years, risk slowing down both the energy and road transport transitions.2 Decarbonising the grid, especially by reducing reliance on gas, can also help cut electricity bills – currently double the European average and one of the most significant cost disadvantages for auto manufacturers trying to invest in new products, production lines and the workforce.
Government has acted with its landmark Industrial Strategy, recognising the economic importance of automotive and providing a firm foundation to boost the sector’s international competitiveness. Indeed, rapid implementation of its reforms could reduce electricity bills by a fifth, easing the non-competitive costs the UK sector faces. However, the proposed relief on standing charges, which will apply to battery production and other energy intensive industries, should also be afforded automotive businesses given their trade intensity and central role in the delivery of net zero.
With cheaper energy costs and even greater grid connections to renewables, UK Automotive can drive Britain forward faster to net zero, providing an internationally competitive low-carbon, lower cost manufacturing environment – helping to replace, at pace, fossil fuel vehicles with the latest zero emission cars, vans, trucks, taxis and buses.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive
Britain’s automotive factories are integral to the country’s decarbonisation ambitions, not just of road transport but the UK’s wider industrial base. Both will require significantly more electricity from the grid, but with faster grid connections and reduced energy costs the necessary investment will be unlocked. The industry cannot afford to wait, and nor can the country if our net zero ambitions are to be realised.
SMMT’s 2025 Sustainability Report, with signatories representing 97.8% of all Britain’s vehicle manufacturing, is the latest edition of the annual report published every year since it was launched in 2000, providing the definitive barometer of the industry’s long-term, year-on-year commitment to improving its environmental, social and economic performance. Last year, the industry contributed £92 billion turnover and £25 billion value added to the UK economy, while investing £5 billion in R&D and supporting some 183,000 manufacturing jobs and 796,000 in total across the wider automotive sector.
Notes to editors
1 Renewable energy generated at automotive factories totalled 4.5% of electric use by vehicle manufacturers in 2024.
