Used battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales jumped by 90.9% year-on-year in 2023, revealed the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
With a record 118,973 units sold last year, BEVs took a market share of hybrid and electric vehicles 1.6% in 2023, up from 0.9% in 2022.
This growth was experienced in other semi-electrified vehicles as hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid used car sales grew by 40% and 25.5%, respectively. In total, EVs increased their used market share by 1.6 percentage points to take up 5.6%.
SMMT noted that the uplift was “in line with growth in the new car sector and demonstrates keen demand for zero emission motoring in this naturally more affordable price bracket.”
Mike Hawes, chief executive of SMMT, praised the record growth, stating it signalled that “the demand is there” for EVs but warned that more must be done to sustain it.
Hawes added that the upcoming Budget (due to take place on 6 March 2024) is a “prime opportunity” to provide such incentives. He said: “Halving VAT on new EVs, while making public charging as easy and affordable as plugging in at home, would ensure a faster and fairer transition for all, giving the UK a green economic boost.”
Current± explored the potential of the second-hand EV market in a blog published late last year. Abdul Chowdhury, head of vehicle policy for the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles called the second-hand EV market “critical to the UK’s transition to zero emission road transport,” and reaffirmed the government’s support for the market through grants and tax measures. To read the full blog click here.
Supporting the EV boom
SMMT has recently been releasing encouraging data regarding the growth of the UK EV market including BEV uptake reached a record volume in 2023, increasing by almost 50,000 units with 314,687 new registrations.
Alongside this, in February SMMT revealed that the UK had reached the milestone of over a million BEVs on the road.
Policy support however, is required to maintain this momentum, as highlighted recently by the Environment and Climate Change Committee which called on the government to update its EV strategy warning that the technology’s adoption, despite increasing, is still falling behind in the race to net zero.
