Electric vehicles hit ‘significant milestone’
More than half a million pure battery-electric vehicles are on UK roads, new figures show.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.More than half a million pure battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are on UK roads, new figures show.
Analysis of latest DVLA data by the RAC Foundation shows there were 519,266 BEVs licensed at the end of June.
This is up from 282,977 a year earlier and 130,246 at the end of June 2020.
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding told the PA news agency: “This is a very significant milestone in terms of getting more battery-powered cars onto our roads, but we still have a long way to travel before we achieve a truly green fleet given that there are around 33 million cars in Britain.”
The Tesla Model 3 is the most popular BEV with 75,188 on the road.
Sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans in the UK will be banned from 2030.
But latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show the rapid increase in sales of new pure electric cars has slowed in recent months.
The number of registrations during the first three months of the year was 102% more than during the same period in 2021.
At the end of August, the year-to-date increase had fallen to 49%.
This has been blamed on supply shortages, and Government grants worth up to £1,500 for purchases of new plug-in cars being scrapped in June.
The Department for Transport said it wanted to “refocus” funding to encourage users of other vehicles to make the switch to electric.
Mr Gooding went on: “In recent months the total take-up of vehicles running solely on electricity can best be described as steady rather than stellar, with shortages of supply hampering the ability of much of the auto industry to get vehicles from their order books and into drivers’ hands.”
The cost-of-living crisis is also leading many people to “hang on to their existing car for a bit longer”, he added.
“Knowing how many electric vehicles are available for use is important, but what matters most is whether those vehicles are actually catering for the trips that would otherwise be fossil-fuelled.”