- The UK achieved its best month on record for passenger EV sales in September, according to data collected by New AutoMotive.
- 53,475 fully-electric passenger cars were sold in the month, the most ever achieved in a single month in the country. This represented
- Compared to September 2023, BEV sales are up 23.3%.
Record sales number for UK EVs
The data shows that for the year-to-date, over 256,000 BEVs have been sold in the country, compared to around 226,000 sold by the same period last year. Although there’s a promising shift to EVs displayed from these results, EVs still only accounted for 20.8% of newly registered cars in the month. Between manufacturer-to-manufacturer, this varies, with brands such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and BYD already exceeding the legally-mandated 22% ZEV sales target for the year.
Despite that, more than 60% of cars sold have at least some level of electrification. Also, EV sales growth in the UK, year-on-year, is faster than its European neighbours, which should help increase that market share over the coming months. Some OEMs still believe that the UK in particular needs to do more to incentivise EV ownership. Polestar’s UK Director, Matt Galvin, recently told The Independent that the UK is the ‘worst in Europe’ for governmental EV incentives, calling for a VAT-free period on the sale of new EVs. Norway’s record EV market share can be attributed to similar incentives.
Ben Nelmes, CEO of New AutoMotive, commented on the statistics:
“The UK’s electric car market is fizzing with life. Electric car registrations grew by almost a quarter in September, with one in five new cars an EV. It is great to see more people than ever before switching to cleaner, cheaper driving. “Sensible government policy is driving an emerging great British success story, with electric car registrations here outperforming the rest of Europe. We are in a global race to get EVs on the roads and Britain is pulling into the fast lane.
