While the UK’s total new car sales slumped in November due to the second lockdown, electric vehicles (EVs) recorded their third-highest ever monthly share of registrations at 9.1 percent, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said on Friday.
To compare, in November of 2019, the share of battery EVs of total new car registrations in the UK was just 3.0 percent.
The share of plug-in hybrid EVs registrations also jumped, to 6.8 percent in November in which a combined total of more than 18,000 new zero-emission capable cars joined Britain’s roads.
At the same time, the overall UK new car market again saw a decline, with registrations down by 27.4 percent year over year, SMMT figures showed.
Registrations of new diesel and gasoline cars in November slumped by 56.2 percent and 41.9 percent, respectively, compared to the same month last year.
On the other hand, registrations of BEVs and of plug-in hybrid vehicles soared by 122.4 percent and 76.9 percent, respectively.
The total car registrations in November fell less than they did during the first lockdown in the spring, when registrations plummeted by 97.3 percent in April, as this time dealers were better prepared to fulfil ‘click and collect’ vehicle orders.
During the April lockdown, Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling car in the United Kingdom, while total UK new car sales plunged by 97.3 percent annually to the lowest level since 1946.
Matt Cleevely, the owner of Cleevely Electric Vehicles, told Car Dealer he wasn’t surprised that the share of EVs in new registrations had jumped over the past year.
“Once you’ve tried an EV, you don’t go back to an internal combustion engine vehicle,” Cleevely told Car Dealer magazine.
Rising EV sales in the UK is good news for the current government, which has just said it plans to ban the sale of new gasoline and diesel cars from 2030.
