New figures show one fifth of UK new cars are electric

New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that while electric vehicle (EV) sales are up in July 2024, the industry is still behind target to meet the UK’s ZEV mandate rules for the transition to electric power.

July’s figures show that EV sales made up 18.5 per cent of the total vehicle sales in the UK. The year-to-date figure is 16.5 per cent, which lags behind the target of 19.8 per cent the industry has been pushing for by the end of 2024. It’s also some way off the 22 per cent required for each manufacturer under the ZEV mandate as we head towards the 2035 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.

Only around 17 per cent of EV registrations are private sales, which shows that it’s still businesses leading the way for electric power. This is due to heavy financial incentives including tax breaks for using electric cars instead of petrol or diesel ones. There are currently no such incentives for private buyers.

SMMT chief executive, Mike Hawes, said that these issues are the current biggest concern for the industry: “More people than ever are buying and driving EVs but we still need the pace of change to quicken, else the UK’s climate change ambitions are threatened and manufacturers’ ability to hit regulated EV targets are at risk.”

The SMMT has previously called for VAT to be slashed on EVs bought privately, as well as a tax cut on public charging to improve private demand for EVs. The SMMT expects the recent cut in interest rates to five per cent to improve demand as well, since finance rates should improve in future months.

Car sales overall were up by 2.5 per cent in July, which marks two years of sustained growth in the car industry following major setbacks due to the pandemic of 2020.