The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) transition has emerged from an early adopter phase, with the focus now on shifting the technology to mass market.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed that there has been a 21-fold growth in EV uptake since 2018. Releasing the latest data, it outlined how there has been one EV registered every 60 seconds, leading to them accounting for more than 16% of overall sales. This makes Britain Europe’s second largest zero emission car market by volume.
However, there is an absence of support for private buyers, which is threatening the prospect of a faster, fairer, mass transition. Fleets and business buyers have leapfrogged private consumers in driving the shift, with the SMMT citing the removal of the Plug-in Car Grant as particularly impactful. Leaving Britain as the only major European market with no consumer EV incentives, it saw sales to private buyers drop from more than one in three to less than one in four.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “We are entering a new phase in the UK’s EV transition, in which Britain can, and should, be a leader. We have the industry, the love of new technology and the scale to succeed.”
Hawes called for the government to extend its commitment to EV manufacturing in the UK to the consumer, drawing on how supply needs to be matched by demand, considering the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate is due to “revolutionise the market in just over 100 days”.
Hawes continued: “A comprehensive package of measures would encourage households across the UK to go electric now, boosting an industry slowly recovering from the pandemic and delivering benefits for the Exchequer, society and the global environment.”
