(REPOST: ThisIsMoney)
- Some 46,522 new electric and plug-in hybrid cars were bought in the UK in 2017
- Experts estimated that 60,000 low-emissions models will be registered in 2018
- Currently, there are around 130,000 electrified vehicles on UK roads
- The East of England saw demand increase by 21% but had the second fewest public chargers installed of all UK region in 2017
- London is about to get an injection of 1,000 new chargers, it has been confirmed
Official sales figure show there is ‘unprecedented demand’ for pure electric and plug-in hybrid cars in the UK with registrations increasing by a record-breaking 27 per cent last year.
Industry insiders are now estimating that 60,000 low emissions plug-in vehicles will be sold in 2018, taking the overall tally on British roads to around 200,000.
While sales were unsurprisingly highest in London, almost 20 per cent of the 46,500 green models sold in the UK last year were registered in the East of England.
Figures released by electric-vehicle information provider Go Ultra Low said the rise in sales could be attributed to the ‘ever-expanding range of plug-in vehicles available to motorists’.
However, the increases could also be traced back to government persuasion to ditch diesel with surcharges on vehicles powered by the scrutinised fuel type.
With ministers last year calling for a blanket ban on all petrol and diesel new car sales by 2040, some 46,522 zero- or low-emissions cars were purchased last year.