Electric vehicle registrations hit all-time high but industry warns mandate targets are slipping further away
Britain’s new car market delivered its strongest month in seven years in March, with 380,627 vehicles registered, a 6.6 per cent increase on the same period last year.
The figures, published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), confirm that the traditional plate-change month remains the engine room of the UK’s automotive retail calendar.
Private buyers led the charge, with retail registrations climbing 10.1 per cent to 162,470 units. Fleet sales rose a more modest 3.5 per cent to 208,853, while the niche business segment jumped 18.8 per cent to 9,304 units.
Record month for electrified vehicles
March was also a landmark month for electrified vehicles, with 196,059 registrations across all plug-in and hybrid categories, the highest volume ever recorded in a single month. Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were the standout performers, surging 24.2 per cent to reach 86,120 units. Plug-in hybrids climbed 46.9 per cent to claim a 13 per cent market share, while conventional hybrids grew 7.3 per cent to take 15.8 per cent of the market.
Yet for all the momentum, the gap between the market and the Government’s regulatory expectations is widening. BEVs accounted for 22.6 per cent of registrations in March and 22.4 per cent year to date, well short of the 33 per cent demanded by the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate for 2026.
Rising costs threaten the transition
The market conditions underpinning the mandate have shifted dramatically since the targets were drawn up. Battery costs are now more than 30 per cent above the levels originally assumed, industrial energy prices sit around 80 per cent higher than in 2021, and public charging can cost over 140 per cent more than it did five years ago. The Iran crisis has added a further layer of uncertainty, potentially stoking interest in electric motoring but equally threatening to push up energy and supply-chain costs, squeeze household budgets, and erode consumer confidence.
While ministers have acknowledged these headwinds, most visibly through the introduction of the Electric Car Grant, manufacturers argue they are still absorbing unsustainable costs to comply with the regulation when natural demand has yet to catch up. With more than 160 EV models now on sale, backed by billions in investment, carmakers are relying heavily on discounting to shift metal.
Calls for an urgent policy review
The SMMT’s chief executive, Mike Hawes, struck a cautious note despite the headline figures. He pointed out that much of March’s performance will have been driven by orders placed before the Iran conflict escalated, and warned that rising living costs could quickly dampen buyer appetite. Hawes called for an urgent review of the transition framework, arguing that other major economies are already revising their own timelines to reflect geopolitical and market realities.
The risk, as the SMMT sees it, is that any delay to a UK review will leave the country at a competitive disadvantage, ultimately undermining consumer choice, inward investment, and the pace of decarbonisation itself.
