One in six car registrations in 2021 was a plug-in electrified vehicle, showing another stellar year for EVs.

The figures revealed by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders demonstrate that electrified cars now have an overall market share of 17 per cent and with 190,727 EVs registered in the last 12 months, it was a total larger than the previous five years combined.

“It’s very good news on the plug-in front but we can’t afford to be complacent. Other competitor markets are growing just as quickly, and sometimes even faster than us,” said Mike Hawes, CEO of the SMMT.

“There’s a long way to go to reach net zero. Around one in 100 vehicles on the road is a plug-in. The government’s ambition is that, by 2030, we need to get that to one in three.”

“It shows how much we need to accelerate sales. It’s not by lack of want from the manufacturers. There are now 140 plug-in vehicles available with another 47 expected this year.”

The overall picture for the UK motor industry remains depressingly grim, with sales showing only a one per cent increase from 2020, which was the worst year for sales since 1992. There were 1.65 million in car sales, compared to 1.63m in 2020.

And Hawes has warned that while EVs are a relative success story, there is a growing gap between the number of vehicles and the actual infrastructure capable of managing the fleet.

Hawes said: “The biggest obstacle to our shared net zero ambitions is not product availability but cost and charging infrastructure. Recent cuts to incentives and home charging grants should be reversed and we need to boost the roll-out of public on-street charging with mandated targets, providing every driver, wherever they live, with the assurance they can charge where they want and when they want.

“With the increase in EV sales and much slower increase in provision of on-street charging, the gap is getting worse.”

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