Last month, one in five cars sold in the UK was electric, making September the biggest month for EV sales so far this year. The launch of the '74' registration plate also helped drive up hybrid car sales.
A total of 275,239 new cars were registered in the UK in September, a slight 1% increase compared to the same month last year. This was more than triple the number sold in August, likely due to the arrival of the new 74-plate.
Of the total cars sold, 56,387 were electric vehicles, accounting for 20.5% of sales. However, this fell just short of the government's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which set a target of 22% of new car sales being electric. So far, August is the only month to hit that goal, and it’s predicted that EVs will make up 18.5% of all new registrations by the end of 2024.
Following this EV surge, the market share of petrol and diesel cars dropped year-on-year in September by 9.3% and 7.1% respectively. Petrol cars still made up just over half of the new cars registered, while diesel continued its decline, accounting for only 6.4% of sales.
The shift towards EVs and hybrids can be partly explained by the dominance of fleet sales in September. Hybrid and plug-in hybrid registrations also rose, boosted by lower company car tax rates. Hybrids saw a 2.6% increase in sales, while plug-in hybrids jumped by 32.1% compared to last year.
SMMT’s Chief Executive, Mike Hawes, described the numbers as "good news" but expressed concern that the market isn’t growing fast enough to meet mandated EV targets. He emphasised that recent EV sales were supported by manufacturers offering large discounts, a strategy that can't continue long-term. Hawes urged the government to use the upcoming Budget to offer stronger consumer support and improve infrastructure for EVs.
In terms of top sellers, the Kia Sportage (a hybrid/plug-in hybrid) was the best-selling car in September, followed by the Ford Puma and Nissan Juke. The Tesla Model Y, which placed fourth, was the only EV to crack the top 10 despite the increase in electric car sales.
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