The latest car registration data has revealed that UK sales of new electric cars grew by 10% last month as battery electric cars (BEVs) made up 23.2% of UK car registrations in August 2024.
Analysis by New Automotive showed BEVs took a higher market share than at any point since December 2022. Sales of electric motorbikes also rose by 1.3%, although the relatively new markets of electric vans and electric heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) both saw declines, falling by 30.1% and 58.8%, respectively. While these declines seem dramatic, the small number of registrations of these vehicles overall make percentage differences appear much more volatile.
Petrol and diesel car sales continue to fall, with just over a third (35.8%) of new cars being petrol only, while diesel vehicles now hold a market share of just 6.2%. As such, analysts from New Automotive have called a potential 2030 ban on sales of new fossil-fuel powered cars “highly achievable”
Expanding on this, Ben Nelmes, CEO of New Automotive, said: “It is great to see continued growth in the number of people opting for an electric car. Electric cars are much cheaper to run, nicer to drive, and they are key to hitting net zero, so it is great to see more and more people discovering the benefits of going electric. The data also shows a significant fall in sales of purely petrol and diesel cars as consumers shun older, polluting technologies.”
Read more: Current+