UK electric car sales surge, but competition for charging spots intensifies

Electric vehicle registrations have continued to skyrocket in the United Kingdom, with new figures published this week showing that battery electric vehicles (BEVs) now claim a near 20 per cent share of the new car market, with plug-in hybrid EVs (PHEVs) accounting for another near 10 per cent.

The increased uptake of electrified vehicles – a jump of near 70 per cent if mild hybrids are included – continues to stand in stark contrast to an overall decline in vehicle registrations compared to pre-pandemic levels. A total of 115,706 new cars were registered in November, an increase of only 1.7% year-on-year.

Even this marginal growth, however, must be taken in the context of a weak 2020 caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic and attendant lockdowns. Total vehicle registrations for November 2021 were down more than 30% below the pre-pandemic five-year average.

The new figures were published on Monday by the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which lays part of the blame for the decline at the feet of continued semiconductor shortages constraining supply.

Combined electrified vehicles accounted for a total of 36.4% of the market share in November, while plug-in electric vehicles (BEVs and PHEVs) accounted for 28.1% of the market with 21,726 BEV registrations and 10,796 PHEV registrations.

Looking at the total for the 11 months of 2021, 1,538,585 new cars have been registered of which 17.5% have been either BEVs or PHEVs – equating to one in six new vehicles. When combined with HEVs, this number increases to 26.5%.

“Demand is there, with a slew of new, increasingly electrified, models launched but the global shortage of semiconductors continues to bedevil production and therefore new car registrations,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive.

However, despite the increasing number of electrified vehicles being bought in the UK, the pace of new on-street public charging infrastructure has not kept up.

According to a new SMMT analysis, the number of plug-in vehicles potentially sharing a public on-street charger has weakened from 11 to 16 between 2019 and 2020, and only one standard on-street public charger is installed for every 52 new plug-in cars registered over the course of 2021.

Britain’s ratio of plug-in vehicles on the road to standard public chargers of 16:1 is one of the worst among the top 10 global EV markets at the end of 2020.

“The continued acceleration of electrified vehicle registrations is good for the industry, the consumer and the environment but, with the pace of public charging infrastructure struggling to keep up, we need swift action and binding public charger targets so that everyone can be part of the electric vehicle revolution, irrespective of where they live,” said Hawes.