In early December, ahead of SMMT formal statistics, we predicted that 10,500 new fully battery electric cars (BEVs) were sold in the UK in November: the actual number was 10,345, for a remarkable 9.1% market share of all new cars sold. In this piece, we dissect these figures to understand what this means for consumers, policy-makers, and the automotive industry.

2020 has seen sales of all new cars drop by 30% overall in the UK, whilst battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales have increased by over 150%. This means 1 in every 16 cars purchased in 2020 was a BEV. What does this mean for the automotive industry, policy-makers, and consumers?