Electric Car Sales Growing Fast In UK

Originally published on Sustainnovate.
By Henry Lindon

The electric vehicle market — which includes both all-electric (EV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles — in the UK has been surging over the last year, going by the most recent figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

These figures show that the number of new car sales eligible for the UK’s plug-in vehicle grant initiative rose to 28,188 from 14,532 — representing a near doubling of sales in just one year’s time. Or, in other words, a 94% year-on-year increase in sales.

While these numbers still don’t represent a particularly significant portion of the overall UK auto market, they do represent fairly fast growth. The overall UK auto market is continuing to grow rapidly as well, though, so overall trends aren’t ideal. New vehicle registrations in the UK rose to 2.6 million last year.

That said, “rapidly” in the case of the overall UK auto-market refers to a growth rate of 6.3%; and, in the case of EVs and PHEVs, to growth rates of 48% and 133% — so there is a discrepancy with regard to growth rates. Electrics are slowly gaining market share.

It’s also worth noting that demand for conventional hybrids continues to rise — with a year-on-year growth rate of 18% for gas-hybrids, making for 40,707 registrations last year in the UK. And a growth rate of 36% for diesel-hybrids — and 47,690 registrations in the UK last year.

Overall market share in the UK for “alternatively fueled vehicles” rose last year to 2.8%, up from 2.1%.

Image by Zachary Shahan | EV Obsession