- UK sales of fully-electric cars (BEVs) are remaining strong throughout the autumn, according to figures from New AutoMotive’s latest UK Electric Car Count, covering sales across the month of October.
- 27,946 fully-electric passenger cars were registered in October, accounting for 20.82% of total car market share. That’s nearly identical to September’s 20.79% figure, but down on August’s impressive record of 23.07%.
- The figures highlight that the car industry as a whole is on track to meet increasing ZEV sales mandates, while also disproving the purported myth that EV sales are in decline.
An overall positive picture in the UK EV market?
The report, which can be downloaded in full here, shows the particular success that electric cars have seen in the country compared to 2023. So far this year, 284,219 such BEVs have been registered – 35,494 more than had been registered by the same time last year. At the same time, pure petrol sales for the year-to-date stand at 593,199 – but this is a significant 100,214 units less than seen by the same period in 2023.
When it came to manufacturer-specific EV sales for the month, Volkswagen topped the chart, with 9% of BEV sales (2,628 units) attributed to the brand. This was followed my Mercedes-Benz and BMW, with shares of 8% and 7% respectively. Notably, established EV manufacturer Tesla saw a lower BEV market share of 3% – despite its Model Y’s record as one of the best selling cars, globally. This can partly be attributed to the fact that Tesla essentially only sells two models in the UK, in the form of the Model 3 and Model Y – with the Model S and X only being sold in small numbers as left-hand-drive models.
Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, commented on the report:
“Electric car sales are going from strength to strength in the UK. This is the result of the efforts and investments made by forward-thinking carmakers, who are delivering cheaper, cleaner transport for all. This ambitious action is being supported by the UK’s world-leading zero emissions vehicle mandate, which is a market-based approach that provides big rewards for companies that sell the most electric cars. This regulation is now providing foundational support for billions of investment in battery manufacturing and charge points.”
These figures come on the back of the UK’s new autumn budget, which dedicated several resources towards EV uptake – such as maintaining the preferential tax treatment of EVs over ICE cars, £2bn of funding allocated to the automotive industry, and an extension of the plug-in van grant. However, some in the industry have said that these measures do not go far enough. However, any of these budget announcements won’t be reflected in this sales report. We’ll be reviewing future monthly sales figures, to see what impact these measures could have made.
