The Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid remains the most common ultra-low carbon car on the UK’s roads.
Analysis by the RAC Foundation of the latest DVLA data shows there were 25,447 Outlanders on the road at the end of 2016, significantly ahead of the pure-battery electric Nissan Leaf at 14,718.
Third came the Mercedes-Benz C350 e (5,890) which pushed the BMW i3 (5,858) down into fourth place in the table. Fifth is the Renault Zoe (4,974).
At the end of 2016 there were a total of 83,169 licensed plug-in car and van grant eligible vehicles in the UK.
This is a 74% increase on the figure at the end of 2015 (47,922).
Three of the five vehicles with the highest growth in licensed numbers over the quarter (end of quarter four compared with quarter three) were plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions of regular cars:
1) Mitsubishi Outlander (PHEV) – 1,696 increase
2) Mercedes-Benz C350 e (PHEV) – 1,134
3) BMW 330 e (PHEV) – 895
4) Nissan Leaf (pure battery electric) – 655
5) BMW i3 (pure battery electric or range extended) – 641
Under the government’s plug-in grant schemes: car buyers can get a grant of up to £4,500 depending on the model and van buyers a grant of up to £8,000.
This is the list of all 48 vehicles that are, or have been, eligible for the government’s plug-in car and van grant schemes and which were on the road in the UK at the end of Q4 2016 (the most recent date for which figures are available).
| Make and Model | Q4 2016 | Q3 2016 | Q2 2016 | Q1 2016 | Q4 2015 | |
| 1 | Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV | 25,447 | 23,751 | 21,708 | 19,945 | 16,100 |
| 2 | Nissan Leaf | 14,718 | 14,063 | 12,837 | 12,469 | 11,219 |
| 3 | Mercedes-Benz C350 e | 5,890 | 4,756 | 3,337 | 1,898 | 628 |
| 4 | BMW i3 (of which are range extender version) | 5,858 (4,198) | 5,217 (3,700) | 4,457 (3,131) | 4,065 (2,855) | 3,574 (2,440) |
| 5 | Renault Zoe | 4,974 | 4,744 | 4,339 | 3,918 | 3,327 |
| 6 | Tesla Model S | 4,454 | 3,907 | 3,312 | 2,826 | 2,087 |
| 7 | BMW 330e | 3,447 | 2,552 | 1,479 | 340 | – |
| 8 | Volkswagen Golf GTE | 3,231 | 3,059 | 2,657 | 1,970 | 1,359 |
| 9 | Nissan e-NV200 (all variants) | 1,886 | 1,710 | 1,487 | 1,243 | 1,047 |
| 10 | Audi A3 e-tron | 1,806 | 1,699 | 1,634 | 1,445 | 1,218 |
| 11 | Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid | 1,671 | 1,667 | 1,655 | 1,651 | 1,580 |
| 12 | Volvo Xc90 T8 Twin Engine | 1,610 | 1,159 | 813 | 561 | 38 |
| 13 | BMW i8 | 1,549 | 1,446 | 1,307 | 1,163 | 1,022 |
| 14 | Vauxhall Ampera | 1,278 | 1,258 | 1,267 | 1,261 | 1,272 |
| 15 | Renault Kangoo ZE | 838 | 805 | 785 | 755 | 740 |
| 16 | Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (all variants) | 610 | 484 | 410 | 366 | 337 |
| 17 | Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid | 515 | 498 | 475 | 454 | 395 |
| 18 | BMW 225xe | 460 | 290 | 163 | 65 | – |
| 19 | Peugeot Ion | 418 | 413 | 405 | 383 | 374 |
| 20 | Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive | 375 | 333 | 303 | 193 | 162 |
| 21 | Mitsubishi i-Miev | 261 | 255 | 252 | 257 | 251 |
| 22 | Kia Soul EV | 245 | 244 | 193 | 170 | 145 |
| 23 | Kia Optima Saloon PHEV | 231 | 207 | |||
| 24 | Citroen C-Zero | 227 | 220 | 213 | 192 | 167 |
| 25 | Smart ForTwo Electric Drive | 209 | 213 | 215 | 214 | 212 |
| 26 | Volkswagen Passat GTE | 180 | 72 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 27 | Volkswagen e-up! | 164 | 161 | 154 | 150 | 142 |
| 28 | Volkswagen e-Golf | 135 | 129 | 123 | 120 | 114 |
| 29 | Mercedes-Benz S500 Hybrid | 124 | 124 | 125 | 129 | 157 |
| 30 | Chevrolet Volt | 119 | 121 | 119 | 122 | 122 |
| 31 | Renault Fluence | 75 | 78 | 79 | 78 | 70 |
| 32 | Audi Q7 e-tron | 62 | 68 | |||
| 33 | Tesla Model X | 42 | ||||
| 34 | Ford Focus Electric | 22 | 22 | 22 | 19 | 19 |
| 35 | Mia (all variants) | 13 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| = | Daimler Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell | 13 | 20 | 22 | 23 | 23 |
| 37 | Toyota Mirai | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 4 |
| 38 | BYD e6 | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | BD Otomotiv eTraffic | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | BD Otomotiv eDucato | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | Citroen Berlingo EV | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | Peugeot ePartner | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | Smith Electric Smith Edison | – | – | – | – | – |
| = | Mahindra e20 | – | – | – | – | |
| = | Hyundai IONIQ EV | – | – | |||
| = | Mercedes-Benz E350 e | – | – | |||
| = | BMW 530e | – | ||||
| = | Mini Countryman PHEV | – | ||||
| Total | 83,169 | 75,771 | 66,375 | 58,471 | 47,922 |
