EV registrations climb to highest level in two years

New registrations of electric cars jumped almost 11% in August, accounting for 1 in 5 of all new cars.

The 22.6% market share is battery electric vehicles’ highest since December 2022 and helped keep the new market largely static despite drops in petrol and diesel sales.

Data from the SMMT shows that 19,113 all-electric models were registered last month, taking the total so far this year to 213,544. Only petrol cars outsold EVs, with 42,872 – a 10% drop on last August.

The SMMT put the EV increase down to ‘heavy discounting over the summer and a raft of new models attracting buyers’.

Several manufacturers, including Vauxhall, Mazda, Honda, Renault and Lexus have dropped the price of their electric models in recent months as they look to boost EV sales to hit ZEV mandate targets.

Despite these efforts, the SMMT warned that, as a whole, the industry would miss the target, leaving some manufacturers facing fines or having to ‘borrow’ credits from future years.

Year-to-date, BEV registrations are up 17.2% and the SMMT predicts they will rise further to 18.5% by the end of the year – still significantly short of the 22% demanded by the ZEV mandate.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “August’s EV growth is welcome, but it’s always a very low volume month and so subject to distortions ahead of September’s number plate change.

“The introduction of the new 74 plate, together with a raft of compelling offers and discounts from manufacturers, plus growing model choice, will help increase purchase consideration and be a true barometer for market demand.”

He repeated the SMMT’s calls for government intervention to help stimulate interest among private buyers, adding: “Encouraging a mass market shift to EVs remains a challenge, however, and urgent action must be taken to help buyers overcome affordability issues and concerns about chargepoint provision.”

Commenting on the data, Philip Nothard, insight director at Cox Automotive echoed the need for government support but also urged Labour to reconsider the current ZEV mandate targets.

He said: “The ZEV mandate may be grounded in good intention, but it is putting the new vehicle sector under impossible and unreasonable pressure. The tactics we are likely to see deployed by OEMs and retailers to hit their numbers in the closing months of this year will be drastic, expensive and risky, creating an unrealistic and unnatural market with potentially far-reaching consequences over the long term. We urge the government to listen to the sector’s feedback, review the mandate and implement support packages to fast-track EV adoption.”