Surge in electric vehicle sales
- Rush for plug-in cars before government grant stops;
- New figures show electric vehicle registrations up 256% year-on-year;
- Every UK region more than doubles uptake of plug-in cars;
- Jan-June: UK consumers bought an electrically-powered car every 18 minutes.
PLUG-IN hybrid car sales have surged as buyers rush to capitalise on the government’s £5,000 grant before it gets pulled by the end of this year.
According to figures from ecological lobbyists Go Ultra Low, registrations of plug-in cars have exploded by 256% year-on-year over the first six months of 2015.
From January to June, 14,586 new registrations of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEV) were made, a significant year-to-date increase on the 4,096 of the same timeframe in 2014.
The record volumes exceed last year’s 14,498 annual total registrations of vehicles eligible for government’s Plug-in Car Grant, which will end sometime this year (see Plug gets pulled on plug-in grants).
With 35 plug-in cars and vans currently on the market, the variety and scale of choice is contributing to the rapid growth.
“Being just six months in to 2015 and having already exceeded last year’s total plug-in car registrations is testament to consumer confidence in this capable and cost-effective technology,” said Hetal Shah, head of Go Ultra Low. “The year-on-year rises give us great confidence in the future of electric cars as we move towards an ultra low emission future.”
