July, August, and September together saw approximately twice as many EV registrations as in the previous quarter. Nearly 5,000 EV registrations came in during the summer quarter, at least based on government grant data. The government grant for plug-in cars is £5,000. For plug-in vans, it’s £8,000.
Despite the support, the British have been very slow to jump on the electric bandwagon, compared to the Norwegians and Dutch, at least. But that may finally be changing as awareness rises. This big increase follows big increases earlier in the year, and an overall 100%-electric increase of 181% and plug-in hybrid electric increase of 1101% for the year up to September.
“It is not surprising that people want these vehicles – they are a pleasure to drive and incredibly cheap to run, as well as beneficial to the environment,” said Transport Minister Baroness Kramer. “The government is breaking down barriers that may have put people off in the past.”
Still, 3,090 EV sales in September don’t even equal 1% of total UK car sales (which totaled 425,861), so we have a long, long way to go before EV sales are really making a dent in the UK automobile market. I’m confident it will happen. Electric cars are so much better in so many ways, but it takes time to raise awareness, even with exponential growth.
For a little perspective on where the UK stands compared to the US and world leader Norway, US electric car sales are similar to the UK on a relative basis, getting close to 1% of US passenger car sales, while they have been above 14% in recent months in Norway.
Image Credit: © Michal Wnuk
Source: EV Obsession. Reprinted with permission.
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