UK reaches million EV milestone in January 2024

Britain has achieved its millionth EV registered milestone in January 2024, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has reported.

Some 20,935 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered in January, a rise of 21.0% year on year, taking the overall total since 2002 to 1,001,677. BEV market share for January also grew year on year to 14.7%, although this is below the full 2023 performance of 16.5%. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) recorded volume growth of 31.1% to take 8.4% of the market, while hybrid (HEV) volumes fell -1.2% with a 13.1% share.

While fleet and business demand for BEVs grew by 41.7% in January, registrations by private buyers fell by -25.1% – an ongoing trend.

Overall, the new car market grew 8.2% in January, with 142,876 new cars registered, an uplift of 10,882 units on January 2023, the best performance for the month since 2020 and the 18th consecutive month of growth. The increase was driven entirely by the fleet market, which rose by 29.9%, while private retail uptake fell -15.8%. Fleets accounted for more than six in 10 (63.2%) new cars registered, up from just over half (52.7%) last year.

Ahead of next month’s Budget, the SMMT is calling for government to support consumers by temporarily halving VAT on new BEV purchases. Temporarily reducing VAT on EVs would partly mirror the tax exemption already offered to consumers on other carbon reduction technologies such as heat pumps.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: "It’s taken just over 20 years to reach our million EV milestone – but with the right policies, we can double down on that success in just another two. Market growth is currently dependent on businesses and fleets. Government must therefore use the upcoming Budget to support private EV buyers, temporarily halving VAT to cut carbon, drive economic growth and help everyone make the switch. Manufacturers have been asked to supply the vehicles, we now ask government to help consumers buy the vehicles on which net zero depends."