UK’s EV sales shoot up 11% year-on-year

Despite this advancement, the country’s low carbon transport is still lagging behind leaders China and Norway

The UK’s electric vehicle (EV) sales have shot up by 11% in the last year.

That’s according to a new report from the Centre of Automotive Management (CAM), which suggests although this brings the nation closer to the leading low carbon transport countries, it is still lagging behind leaders China and Norway.

In the UK, EV sales reached 14,084 units in the first quarter of 2018. Plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for 71% of the sales, with overall market share increasing to 2% from around 1.5%.

Nearly half the vehicles registered in Norway in the first three months of 2018 were electric, compared to just over a third (35%) during the same period the year before.

In the first quarter of 2018, China sold 142,445 EVs, a 154% increase on the year before and the highest raw figures overall.

CAM expects global registrations of new EVs could make up around 6% of market share by 2020.

Stefan Bratzel, Director of CAM, said: “China and Norway are exceptional in e-mobility. The lead market remains China, where substantial industrial policy motives are driving battery-EV technology forward.”

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