The UK saw electric car sales surge in January, with new registrations reaching a record high as experts celebrate the progress being made to transition away from internal combustion engines.
New data from New AutoMotive reports that electric car sales reached an all-time high for the month of January, with more than one in five new cars being a battery electric vehicle.
This is a huge increase of 34 per cent compared with last year, when just 15 per cent of new cars were electric, which has been backed by major strides made by manufacturers.
The likes of BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot, Audi, and Mini all experienced significant increases in sales of EVs, with the latter seeing sales jump fivefold in a year.
January saw the registration of 27,693 electric cars, 1,323 electric vans, 148 zero emission motorbikes and 25 battery HGVs.
This comes amid the backdrop of the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate which requires major car brands to have a minimum percentage of sales come from electric vehicles.
In total, 28 per cent of vehicles sold by major brands will need to be zero emission, although New AutoMotive suggests compliance can be achieved with just 23 per cent of sales being EVs.
This is down to flexibilities in the ZEV mandate policy which allow businesses to offset EV sales targets with increased sales of hybrids and lesser-polluting petrol and diesel cars.”
The research also stated that nine of the top 10 sellers of EVs are “legacy” manufacturers who are making the switch from internal combustion engines to electric cars, showing the industry-wide commitment to cleaner transport.
Renault has already sold more EVs than they managed in the first three months of 2024, while Ford has done the same compared to the first five months of last year.