Motorists in the UK are buying more electric vehicles than ever; with latest figures confirming continual quarterly rises in plug-in car uptake.
Since records began in 2011, volumes of electric car registrations have risen steeply as motorists realise the benefits of owning an electric vehicle, which include low running costs, tax savings and a fun driving experience.
In the April-June period of this year, 38.0% more electric cars were registered compared to the same timeframe in 2015, building on a 27.4% pick-up in the first quarter. In addition to these quarterly gains, the first six months of this year pushed electric car registrations 31.8% ahead of the first half of 2015. Plug-in registrations totalled 19,252 for the year-to-date, 4,640 units ahead of the same period last year.
The bumper start to 2016 pushes registration volumes close to 70,000 units since government introduced its Plug-in Car Grant in January 2011. The rapid rise in registration volumes show more people than ever are realising the benefits of going electric. They are cleaner, cheaper to run, more reliable and with government support worth hundreds of pounds for home charging equipment, drivers can enjoy the convenience of a fully charged car every morning.
March 2016 was the best-ever month for electric car uptake when, boosted by a registration-plate change, there were 7,440 registrations. June recorded the year’s second highest volume of 3,196 new cars registered, up 23% year-on-year. These strong numbers support the fact that the first six months of 2016 were the highest-volume half-year ever for electric car registrations.
Of the vehicles that have made up these continually-improving figures for the first half of the year, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has proved most popular with 5,738 of the plug-in SUV rolling on to UK roads. The Nissan LEAF remains the most popular pure-electric car with 2,336 first-half registrations in 2016.
Government support has been crucial to driving the success of electric vehicles in the UK. This includes generous purchase incentives including a grant of up to off £4,500 the cost of a new car; tax benefits that could be worth thousands over the life of the car such as the lowest rates of Vehicle Excise Duty and company car tax, as well as support for home and public charging infrastructure contributing to the ongoing rises in uptake.
