One in four new vehicles cars registered last month were electric, although the UK new car market fell slightly in February, down -1% to 84,054 units, according to the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
February was the fifth consecutive month of decline, with a -4% reduction in fleet registrations – which have driven previous market growth. Private registrations rose by 4.6% to slightly increase overall market share to 35.6%, while the much smaller business sector rose by 3.3%.
However, EV uptake continued to grow, with plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) rising 19.3% and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) up 7.9%. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations were up by 41.7% to 21,244 units, securing a 25.3% market share compared with 17.7% a year ago.
Demand for new light commercial vehicles (LCVs) fell by -19.3% in February to 14,476 units, the third consecutive month of decline.
In positive news for LCVs, uptake of battery electric vans weighing up to 4.25 tonnes grew for the fifth consecutive month, up 55.1% to 1,413 units, with market share rising to 9.7% – up five percentage points on last year.
