The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has released data that revealed that the growing adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) led to a 2.1% reduction in emissions.
As documented in the SMMT’s Motorparc analysis, which is derived from DVLA data, the average car’s carbon emissions dropped 2.1%, while company car emissions plummeted by 11.5%. This was due to compelling fiscal incentives encouraging fleets to invest in EVs and manufacturer investment in new lower and zero-emission models.
The number of vehicles on UK roads reached a record high in 2023, rising by 1.7% to 41,404,589, with plug-in vehicles driving the biggest growth in car ownership since 2016.
The total number of cars on the road rose by 1.6% since 2016 – 546,800 units to 35,694,845 – after almost half a million new battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles were registered during 2023.
The number of BEVs in use increased by almost half (47.3%) compared with 2022, meaning these vital zero-emission vehicles now account for 2.7% of all cars in use, up from just 1.9% in 2022.
Additionally, implied scrappage rates of older vehicles have also fallen to the lowest on record, with British motorists keeping their cars for longer. The average car on the road is now nine years old, up by more than a year since 2019.
Zero-emission workhorses also recorded a boost – with BEV van volumes rising by 43.5% in 2022 to 61,161, meaning 1.2% of vans on UK roads are now zero emission.
The number of electric buses in operation grew by 159.4% to 1,922 units, making the UK Europe’s biggest market for zero-emission buses and coaches, and electric HGVs rose 146.4% in 2023, although they account for just 0.4% of the fleet.
Part of a pattern
These figures are somewhat unsurprising as SMMT’s monthly reports detailing the number of new EV registrations have consistently told a similar story.
Most recently, the society reported that March 2024 saw the most new BEV registrations for the month since 2019. The 10.4% rise in registrations from February marked the 20th consecutive month of growth for the UK’s adoption of new EVs.
In March, which is typically the busiest month of the year as the first of the two new number plate designation periods, 317,786 new cars were on the road. Although March was the best-performing month since 2019, it was still 30.6% lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Growth was again driven by fleet investment, up 29.6%, as the sector continues to recover from previous years’ constrained supply.
Lagging behind
The new data also reflected the need for a faster and more efficient rollout of charging infrastructure in the UK.
SMMT pointed out that 2023 was the best year for public chargepoint rollout, but there is still just one standard public charger available for every 35 plug-in cars on the road, only a slight improvement from one for every 36 the year prior.
This viewpoint is supported by research published by chargepoint operator (CPO) Believ, which revealed that many local authorities have fallen behind in their EV infrastructure plans.
According to the CPO, local authorities, including both councils and assemblies, are struggling to implement their EV infrastructure plans, reducing the UK government’s chances of reaching its target of 300,000 charge points by 2030.
In 2022, a fifth (20%) of the 100 councils surveyed said they hoped to roll out local charging infrastructure within 12 months, and almost three-quarters (72%) aimed to do so within three years.
However, in 2024, none of these councils have fully implemented their plans yet; 13% don’t expect to do so any time soon, and 47% believe it will now take more than three years.
