October was yet another strong month for electric car registrations in the UK, according to new figures from Electric Car Count, which tracks new car registrations in the UK. October saw electric cars take over 15% of the market for a second month in a row, with a big number of brands now recording large numbers of EV registrations.

“September is often a bumper month for EV sales, but even these statistics surprised us. Twice as many people bought electric cars as bought diesel cars, showing the ongoing slump in sales of polluting diesels. In many UK cities - Newcastle, Bristol, London, Oxford, Cambridge and Birmingham, the figures suggest that 1 in 5 cars bought are now fully electric.“

-Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

“August’s figures are yet more evidence that the transition to electric vehicles is gathering pace. The UK will benefit if the government acts now to ensure that the charging infrastructure is rolled out rapidly. This summer, we heard some people suggest that the UK should try to resist the inevitable transition to EVs; doing so would be like building sandcastles against the incoming tide.”

-Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

“July’s new car registrations data is further evidence of the quiet revolution that is taking place in the UK car market. In July 2019, 96% of new cars were either petrol or diesel. Now, just over half of new cars bought are petrol, and we expect diesel cars to become a niche part of the market by the end of the year.”

-Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

“Electric car sales saw strong growth in June, with one in ten new cars registered in the UK now fully electric, with zero emissions at the tailpipe. While petrol remains the most popular fuel type, the growth of registrations of new hybrid vehicles is a concern. Hybrids are not zero emissions cars, and the UK needs to see faster growth in zero emissions, fully electric cars to meet its net zero target.”

-Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

“Across the UK demand for electric cars continues to grow, with the most significant surge in sales happening in the North East. Polluting diesel car sales continue to decline, and in London and Newcastle there are now more new electric cars sold each month than new diesel vehicles.”

- Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

The Electric Car Count is a tool and data series that gives people information about the UK car market on a monthly basis. We were delighted to see it featured in the Times and the Guardian last month. If you haven’t yet explored the interactive tool, take a look and let us know what you think.

“The race for EV market share is on. We’re seeing an increasing number of car manufacturers trying secure market share. This is good news for consumers: it means more choice of electric cars for those wishing to make the switch and access all the benefits of owning an EV.”

-Ben Nelmes, Head of Policy and Research at New AutoMotive

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?