Electric car registrations continued a run of very strong growth in June as consumers increasingly shun petrol and diesel in favour of hybrid and fully electric cars. Consumer demand continues to outstrip supply, with waiting times continuing to extend out to as much as 52 weeks for some electric models, due to the popularity of these vehicles.

New electric car sales grew by 38% year-on-year in May, as the UK’s new car market continues to recover from a disappointing 2022. Electric car sales were responsible for around 18% of all new registrations (up 5 percentage points from May 2022), meaning just under one in five new cars sold in May was fully electric.

The sale of new electric cars rose by 60% year-on-year in April, as Britons continue to flock to make the switch to cheaper, greener electric transport. Around 16% of all new cars were electric. Across all fuel types, the new car market grew by roughly 10% overall, continuing the steady recovery that began in February, with this growth largely being driven by a 60% increase in new EV registrations.

In March, electric cars accounted for 16.21% of all new car registrations in the UK, as the exponential growth in EV uptake seen in recent years begins to stabilise. While demand for electric vehicles is  still high, it is likely that slower rates of growth will continue until the ZEV Mandate is implemented in 2024, and supply is able to consistently match consumer demand.

The number of new electric car sales grew by 16% year-on-year in February, despite electric’s overall share of the market falling slightly. The overall number of new car registrations increased as the new car market showed the first marked signs of recovery since late last year. Unfortunately, it was not just new electric registrations driving this growth - new petrol sales, alongside new hybrid sales, were also up, helping to drive the uptick of the market.

The torrent of bad headlines about the UK’s electric car ambitions has not deterred consumers, according to New AutoMotive’s latest Electric Car Count data. Electric car registrations grew 6% in January, recording the fastest growth of any fuel type.

Once again, December was a very strong month for new electric car sales, recording their highest ever market share. One in three new cars were electric, making them the second most popular type of car sold in December. For the first time since at least 2010, petrol’s share of the market fell below 40% - a significant milestone in the decline of fossil fueled cars and the transition to electric. 

The new car market continued its recent resurgence in November, growing by 10% compared to the same month in 2021. Just under 21% of all new registrations were electric, an increase year-on-year, meaning one in five new registrations in November were for an electric car.

New electric car registrations were solid in October, as the car market grew by 11% overall compared to the same month last year. Although electric’s market share fell slightly year on year, just over 1,500 more electric cars were sold in October 2022 than October 2021.

New electric car sales were solid in September, increasing in market share by 2 percentage points compared to the same month last year. New electric registrations also increased in terms of actual sales volume, with 4,765 more EVs being sold in September 2022 than in September 2021.

August saw strong growth in electric car sales. Fully electric vehicles rose from 10% to 14% market share. Electric car sales appear to have grown at the expense of hybrid sales, with consumers increasingly preferring fully electric cars to hybrids.

2022 continues to be a record-breaking year for electric car sales. However, in the first full month since the government scrapped the plug-in car grant on 14th June, electric car sales have dropped slightly. Year-on-year total car registrations were down 8% in July 2022 compared with July 2021.

Despite the array of disruptions facing global supply chains and a cost of living crisis that is rapidly eroding consumer purchasing power, there continues to be a steady growth in sales of electric cars in the UK. This is driven by consumer demand - often fuelled by concerns about rising fuel prices - but is held back by a lack of vehicle supply.

Amid a slump in new car registrations in May, electric cars continued to grow in popularity - they were the only fuel type to grow the number of new cars registered and the share of the market.

April saw continued steady growth in sales of electric cars, with one in ten new cars registered in the UK being fully electric, up from 6.6% of all sales in April 2021. There was further evidence of a steady decline in the popularity of petrol as registrations fell from 77,500 in April 2021 to 58,400 in April 2022, or from 58% of new registrations to 54%.

16% of all new cars bought in the UK in March 2022 were fully electric. This is up from 8% of the market in March 2021. Both diesel and petrol share of the market has fallen in the last 12 months, from 72% of sales last March, to 58% now. This shows people are continuing to migrate away from the combustion engine and towards pure EVs. Sales of all-electric EVs were up by 63% year on year, whilst sales of hybrids were actually down by 2%. 

February saw continued growth in the number of electric cars being bought in the UK. 18% of all new cars bought across the UK were fully electric up from 7% of new cars last year. This rapid growth demonstrates the continued popularity of electric cars, while the declining market share and number of petrol cars being sold shows the waning popularity of conventional internal combustion engines. 

The number of people buying electric cars has doubled in the last year, according to the latest data from New AutoMotive’s Electric Car Count. In January 2022, UK motorists bought 13,000 new electric cars, up from 6,000 in January 2021.

Welcome to a bumper edition of Electric Car Count, containing a review of 2021 as well as our usual review of the past month’s new car registrations.

Electric cars had their best ever month outside of a lockdown in November 2021, according to the latest data from Electric Car Count. 19% of all new cars in the UK in November were fully electric - almost 1 in five of all new cars. Electric cars continued to be the fastest growing segment of the market, amid declining petrol sales.