More than half a million battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are on UK roads, statistics have revealed. BEV are the industry name for Electric cars. Hybrids and plug in hybrids, while electric are not 100% battery powered. The industry calls this a ‘significant milestone’.
Analysis of the latest DVLA data by the RAC Foundation shows 519,266 BEVs had been licensed by the end of June, up from 282,977 a year earlier and from 130,246 a year before that.
Steve Gooding, the foundation’s director, said: “This is a very significant milestone in terms of getting more battery-powered cars on to our roads, but we have a long way to travel before we achieve a truly green fleet [as] there are around 33 million cars in Britain.”
The Tesla Model 3, with 75,188 on UK roads, is the most popular BEV.
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.”
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.
Source: SMMT
