New data has revealed that the electric vehicle (EV) market is growing despite an overall fall in automotive sales.
Statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have shown that deliveries of new cars fell by 1.9% in the UK during November 2024, marking the second consecutive month that has seen auto market sales decline.
Despite this overall drop in car sales, the EV market has continued to grow at pace, rising by 58.4% to hit 38,581 new unit sales. This is the 11th consecutive month that registrations of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have risen, and BEVs now make up 25.1% of the overall automotive market for November. The SMMT attributes the continued rise of EV sales in the last month to heavy manufacturer discounting.
UK car buyers seem to be singularly turning their attention to BEVs over other low-emission vehicle types, with sales of hybrid vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles declining by 3.6% and 1.2%, respectively. However, the decline in demand for hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles is minimal compared to the fall in sales of petrol and diesel cars, which dropped by 17.7% and 10.1%, respectively.
The UK is the second-biggest market for new EV sales in Europe by volume, with the SMMT commenting that Britain is closing the gap on current market leader Germany. The automotive trade group adds that the increased variety of choices for EV models is likely a major driver of the rising popularity of EVs in the UK, with over 130 zero-emission vehicle models available in the UK today – up more than 42% from the available number of models a year ago.
Although the rising popularity of EVs is undoubtedly positive for the nation’s transport decarbonisation goals, the SMMT notes that the market demand for EVs “remains weak and below the levels expected when the regulation was drawn up by the previous government”. The overall market share of BEVs for the year is expected to be between 18.7% and 19% across the whole year – notably shorter than the 22% target set by the UK government for 2024.
SMMT projections suggest that new BEV registrations will need to grow by an additional 53% in 2025 in order to hit the mandated industry target of a 28% market share for next year – equivalent to over 90,000 more businesses and consumers switching to an EV than the industry currently predicts.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Manufacturers are investing at unprecedented levels to bring new zero-emission models to market and spending billions on compelling offers. Such incentives are unsustainable – the industry cannot deliver the UK’s world-leading ambitions alone. It is right, therefore, that the government urgently reviews the market regulation and the support necessary to drive it, given EV registrations need to rise by over a half next year.
“Ambitious regulation, a bold plan for incentives and accelerated infrastructure rollout are essential for success, else UK jobs, investment and decarbonisation will be at further risk.”
