From sluggish progress towards the chargepoint rollout target to the collapse of battery technology company Britishvolt, January was dominated by negative headlines. But that didn’t deter EV sales from growing at record pace, according to New AutoMotive’s latest Electric Car Count data.
EV registrations rose 6% in January, recording the fastest growth of any fuel type, the green group has found. EVs’ market share grew slightly, from 12.55% to 13.51% year-on-year in the month under review.
While petrol’s market share recovered from its historically low figure in December 2022 (when just 37% of all new car sales were a petrol vehicle), petrol sales still fell by almost 5% year-on-year, the release said. Diesel sales continued to plummet, as the fuel type becomes increasingly irrelevant within the UK car market, with sales falling by 15%. Diesels accounted for only 6.64% of all sales this month.
“Following a month of negative headlines for the UK’s transition to electric cars, we were pleasantly surprised to see sales of electric cars continue to grow,” said Ben Nelmes, Chief Executive Officer at New AutoMotive.
January also saw a series of announcements of new investment in the U.K. EV manufacturing as Nanotech Energy revealed its intention to invest £1 billion in new battery manufacturing in the UK, and WAE Technologies unveiled plans for a new battery manufacturing plant in Oxfordshire. There was also news that two companies have placed bids for Britishvolt.
“The UK needs a green industrial strategy if we are to attract the jobs, investment and growth that the global transition to electric vehicles offers,” said Nelmes. “A good first step would be to end the delay to the long-overdue ZEV Mandate. This scheme is vital to attracting investment and creating clean, green and future-proofed British jobs.”
The green group tracks regional registrations using a three-month rolling average, which masks big variations in EV market share from month to month. The DVLA regions with the highest share of EVs are Peterborough (56%), Oxford (50%), Wimbledon (22%), Bristol (34%), and Newcastle (30%).
Tesla sold just 530 cars in January, claiming under 4% of the market. At the top of the table, Volkswagen, Audi, and BMW achieved 10.09%, 10%, and 9.5% market share respectively. This means they collectively account for three in every ten new EV sales over January. MG and Kia followed in 4th and 5th place respectively, trailing just outside this leading pack, with both sitting at just under 7.5% market share.
The race to dominate the electric segment of the market is still wide open, and marques who can electrify at pace will be rewarded, New AutoMotive said. Genesis topped this table, verging on 100% electric; 91% of the marque’s sales were electric in January. While Genesis’s progress is exciting, it should be noted that the company sells a relatively low volume of cars overall (under 100 this month), and therefore its electrification is not as impactful as that of other, larger brands.
Among manufacturers with high volumes, 22% of BMW’s sales and 20% of Audi sales were electric in January. The numbers were 17% and 16% for MG and Kia respectively.
The data excludes brands that are 100% electric, the company said.