UK EV SALES

Global ranking, EV market share of national fleet
NO. 6

(Q4 2016 1.3%)

UK EV INCENTIVES

A Plug-In Car Grant introduced in 2011 provides for a £4,500 ($6,300) purchase credit. A Plug-In Van Grant was introduced in 2012 allowing electric light commercial vehicles to qualify for a higher purchase credit of  £8,000 ($11,200). PHEV’s below  £60,000 ($84,000) qualify for an incentive of  £2,500 ($3,500). A new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) was introduced from the 1st of April 2017. The new VED rules apply for all vehicles except zero emission vehicles (ZEV). According to the VED, Internal Combustion Engine vehicles (ICE) will be liable for a levy of £1,550 spread over five years on all vehicles priced over £40,000.

 

ANALYSIS OF THE UK EV SALES DATA

Publicly available UK sales data is hard to come by as The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders only release headline figures and sell detailed figures at over £7,000 per annum. UK EV sales for the first quarter 2017 set new records, mostly on the back of Tesla sales. The quarter’s sales bring EV’s contribution up to 1.4% of the total vehicle fleet. The UK sales for Q1, traditionally the best performing quarter for UK car sales, was closely watched as a new Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) comes into play from the first of April 2017.

Click through to our detailed breakdown of EV sales in the UK filled with charts, tables, and insights. We look at the Top EV brands in the UK, the gainers, the worst performing EVs in the UK and the battle between BEV and PHEV models.

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Registration Of Top Selling Plug-In Electric Vehicles By Model In the UK

UK EV SALES FOR MARCH 2018

 

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UK-EV-sales-March-2018-table

BRITISH EV SALES HISTORY

UK-EV-Sales history december 2018 ytd

UK EV PRICE LIST

uk ev price list

USA EV PRICE LIST

us ev price list

EUROPE EV PRICE LIST

eu ev price list

UK EV SALES IN THE NEWS

2018 Week 36 - British EV sales hits record

British electric vehicle sales reached a record high last month as one out of every 12 new cars purchased in the UK was an electrified car (hybrid, plug-in hybrid, pure electric and hydrogen vehicles). In August 2017 3,968 units were sold compared to 7,489 out of 94,094 total car sales in Augst 2018. Some warned that the figure should be viewed cautiously as it could be driven by regulation changes in September. The Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) is being rolled out in September 2018 which will affect all new cars in the UK spurring big discounts on pre-September models. As a counter argument fuel prices reached the highest level since July 2014 and 13pence more expensive than a year ago.

2018 Week 33 - London Streetpole retrofitted as charging points

The City of London awarded contracts to eight companies to install 1,150 charging points by 2020, adding to the 3,980 public chargers in the city. Currently, London has around 13,000 electric cars, at the same time 60% of the city’s inhabitants don’t have access to their own garages and require on-street charging. In August 2017 the mayor of London earmarked £4.5 million TfL capital funding to install 1,500 standard electric charging points and £18 million for 300 DC fast chargers by 2020 to promote the adoption of EVs. Four of the eight suppliers were awarded the opportunity to install their chargers using the city’s streetlight infrastructure. Siemens and ubitricity joined forces as one of the four that will install chargers in lampposts. ubitricity, which already operates around 300 such charging points, paved the way for the retrofitting of lampposts in London when it installed the first charger of its kind in 2016. Retrofitting a lamppost to enable EV charging takes less than an hour.

The ubitricity ‘SimpleSockets’ charging system allows a driver to connect to the post with a special cable which identifies the charge point activating it and bill the drivers account. The ‘SimpleScokets’ system has a max output of 4.6kW and drivers are billed at a subsidized rate of £0.15/kWh through a subscription service where the £199 capable is free. You can also purchase the cable outright for £100 but then be charged at a rate of £0.19/kWh. The charge point can also accept standard chargers, but it needs to be activated through a mobile application.

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2018 Week 28 - UK Road to Zero Strategy

The UK Government published its “Road to Zero Strategy” this week. The strategy sets out its proposals to achieve its 2030 emission reduction targets. In 2017 the Government announced its “Air Quality Plan” by which it sees the end to the sale of combustion vehicles. The Road to Zero Strategy is equally aggressive compared to the country’s peers. In accordance with the proposal, the UK plans for low emission car sales of between 50% and 70% and 40% for commercial vans by 2030. The plan is also designed to support its Industrial Strategy, putting the country at the forefront of mobility disruption by leading the industries of the future and building the UK’s competitiveness in the face of major global economic trends. The plan tasks the UK Government to support the low emission sector through a massive roll-out of infrastructure. The Road to Zero Strategy is technology neutral and does not speculate on which technologies might help to deliver the government’s 2040 mission.

2017 Week 48 - UK Autumn budget support EVs

The UK’s recent Autumn budget provided £400 million for charging infrastructure, £100 for incentives and £40 for research and development while committing that 25% of the government’s fleet would be converted to electric by 2022.

2017 Week 29 - BMWs Oxford plant to produce BEV Mini
 

We reported in March that BMW was considering Mini as an EV only brand, with the Mini being its answer to Tesla and Chevrolet‘s mass-market cars, the Model 3 and Bolt EV. At the time BMW CEO, Harald Krüger was quoted that the company is considering manufacturing facilities for the Mini in Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. Reuters this week reported that unconfirmed sources indicated that the UK would be the winner in the race for producing a fully electric Mini. The BMW plant in Oxford is responsible for 60% of the Groups compact cars, but in the aftermath of BREXIT, the German automaker established the Netherlands as an alternative manufacturing base. The report indicates that the final desition will be announced at the Frankfurt Auto Show in September.

2017 Week 13 - Two surveys show popularity of EV's in UK

News from the past week shows the that the pendulum is swinger quicker than expected for electric vehicles. The results of two surveys in the UK this week was a clear indication that demand for electric vehicles is much more than most automakers anticipated. Google searches for the electric vehicles has also surged by 127%.

A survey by Venson Automotive Solutions shows that 85% of respondents from a survey in the UK are now seriously considering buying an EV. Reading between the lines, wattEV2Buy finds it significant that range is no longer the deterring factor when prospective buyers are considering buying an EV. For long, most respondents to such surveys cited range as overarching reason for not buying an EV. In the Venson Survey, a lack of charging stations was the biggest reason for prospective buyers to put off the buying decision. In a separate survey by Carbuyer, 61% of respondents said they would not buy diesel vehicles again because of “diesel gate,” the spectacular “own goal” by big auto. Diesel sales were down 9% in the UK for the month of February while plug-in vehicles rose by 49%.

Most automakers have caught on to the shift, but not aggressive enough, while others are being forced to produce plug-in electric vehicles. Labor organizations within Audi have asked management to build more electric vehicles, as some of the factory units fear missing out on the technology will lead to job losses. Hyundai was forced by shareholders to shift focus on Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles to plug-in electric vehicles, while Daimler has accelerated its massive $10 billion planned investment in EV’s. All these turnarounds in strategy pale in comparison to that of Sergio Marchionne, FIAT Chrysler‘s CEO, but more Hyundai, FIAT, and Daimler later in the post.

2017 Week 5 - Scotland Yard to build a green fleet of police cars.

To support the new Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan’s efforts to combat air pollution in the city the London Metropolitan Police Service, also know as Scotland Yard launched a new green fleet of over 250 new energy vehicles by the end of the year. Tesla and other automakers have been approached to trail their new energy vehicles for front line operations as part of the first phase, which would eventually see the overhaul of Scotland Yards fleet of 4000 vehicles.  

2016 Week 41 - Incentives

Legislation promoting the sale of electric vehicles, one of the key pillars for growing the new technology, has gained traction in the last week with new draft proposals being put forward in Europe, the UK, and the USA. New European legislation expected by the end of 2016 would require that all new and refurbished homes be equipped with electric vehicle charging points from 2019. Further, it would be required by 2023 that 10% of all public parking space should include charging facilities. In the UK the draft Clean Air Framework published on Tuesday tabled proposals which included EV’s to use bus lanes, the right to go first at traffic lights and cheaper parking. In the USA, Senator Sherrod Brown (Ohio Democrat) introduced the Electric Vehicle Credit Act which aims to introduce a non-taxable employee benefit to promote electric vehicles.

2016 Week 35 - UK Gov not doing enough for EVs

The UK Governments influential Environmental Audit Committee this week announced that the government is falling short in providing measures to enable the switch to electric vehicles. The UK targets 9% penetration by EV’s of the total vehicle fleet by 2020. Forecast by the Department of Transport, however, predict a figure of between 3% and 7% based on current trends. There is an urgent need to address the situation by implementing incentives and other measures to address ownership and infrastructure deficits.

2016 Week 31 - Tipping Point

The tipping point in favor of EV’s is linked so much to the price of Li-ion batteries as it is to charge networks. In the relationship with charging stations, it is more a chicken-egg situation, where the uptake of EV’s is coupled to available infrastructure which is again dependent on demand of EV. A recent report by NISSAN Moto GB in the UK has found that the tipping point has been reached and that there will be more charging stations than fuel stations in the country by 2020. In other charging station, related news the San Diego-based company Qualcomm has licensed its wireless charging technology to LEAR, a leading supplier of electrical systems to the international motor sector.

TOOLS TO COMPARE ELECTRIC VEHICLES

We have designed some cool tools to compare electric vehicles. Our tools include a mobile app, charging cost calculator and EV selector. Use wattEV2Buy’s proprietary tools to find the ideal EV for your requirements and determine the cost of charging EVs.