One in five new cars registered in the UK are now electric, according to new data, as the Government launches major new EV rules.
New research suggests that electric car sales continued to increase in 2023, despite a slowdown from manufacturers in the final two months of the year.
Pure electric vehicles accounted for 19.9 per cent of sales in December 2023, more than triple the market share of new diesel registrations.
It is also near the Government’s benchmark of 22 per cent under the new terms of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
The UK is expected to see one million vehicles on the roads this month
GETTY
It is believed that the reason for the slowdown in sales in December 2023 was due to Tesla suffering a series of production issues, hampering their output of new EVs.
Despite this, multiple other firms have stepped in to fill the gap including MG, Audi and BMW.
Ben Nelmes, chief executive of New AutoMotive, said estimates from experts had long predicted a slowdown in sales of electric vehicles in December.
This would be especially notable given the record-high sales of EVs in December 2022.
More than 40,000 EVs were registered in the record month with an impressive 33.5 per cent market share, just four per cent lower than new petrol registrations.
He added: “However, electric car sales have held up well, just shy of the 22 per cent target set by the California-style Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate that came into force this week.
“Electric car sales for the whole of 2023 are up on the previous year, whilst the decline in market share of petrol and diesel continues.”
The new ZEV mandate outlines how car manufacturers must sell a minimum proportion of electric vehicles, starting at 22 per cent from 2024.
This will begin to increase in the coming years, reaching 80 per cent at the end of the decade before hitting 100 per cent of all car and van sales in 2035.
Nelmes continued, saying: "The car market is highly volatile from month to month, but we expect continued growth in sales through 2024 as people become more familiar with electric cars and the Zero Emissions Vehicle mandate delivers the cars that people want at prices they can afford.
“Nevertheless, Government needs to champion the transition - both explaining the financial benefits, and tackling widespread misinformation, which it committed to in its Plan for Drivers."
Across 2023, Tesla captured 16 per cent of all EVs registered, selling more than 53,000 electric cars, over three times the number of cars sold than MG in second place.
Almost 300,000 new EVs were registered in 2023, falling short of hybrid vehicles (545,309 registrations) and petrol (806,912 registrations).
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The new Zero Emission Vehicle mandate launched this week
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The RAC Foundation has predicted that the number of pure battery electric vehicles on UK roads is expected to hit one million this month.
More than 967,000 of the vehicles were licenced at the end of November, up from 674,000 at the end of 2022.
