The latest car registration figures from the automotive trade association SMMT show that EVs and plug-in hybrids are increasing in popularity.

In the 11 months up to November more than 2.1 million new cars were registered in the UK. Of those around 1.4% were Alternatively-Fuelled Vehicles (AFVs) – just shy of 30,500. It represents a 16.4% increase on the same period in 2012. In November alone AFV registrations numbered just short of 2,400 – an increase of 23.1% on the same month last year.

Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) – those with CO2 emissions under 75g/km – which are currently only pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids, accounted for one in ten AFVs registered so far this year – roughly 3,000. By contrast they made up just one in twenty back in 2011.

SMMT said it expected ULEV sales to increase next year in response to the launch if a government-backed campaign to raise awareness of them.