Skip to main content

Moneybarn: 1,800% increase in UK electric car registrations over five year period

Nearly 10,000 electric cars are now registered in the UK with Japanese and German manufacturers dominating most popular brands in the UK, according to a five-year analysis on the development of the Electric vehicle industry by Moneybarn. These findings have been revealed following the government’s plan to ban the sale of all petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.
November 2, 2017 Read time: 2 mins
Nearly 10,000 electric cars are now registered in the UK with Japanese and German manufacturers dominating most popular brands in the UK, according to a five-year analysis on the development of the Electric vehicle industry by Moneybarn. These findings have been revealed following the government’s plan to ban the sale of all petrol and diesel vehicles from 2040.


The growth in sales suggest that Electric vehicles (EVs) are no longer considered niche specialist vehicles with most popular manufacturers bringing out their own versions. In 2016, figures showed that Japan’s Mitsubishi’s Outlander had the highest market share of 7,572, followed by Nissan Leaf, 5,535. Germany’s Mercedes C Class came next with 5,164 followed by the BMW 3 Series 4,637. The lowest market share of 1,378 is held by is Germany’s Volkswagen Golf, which is 116 less than France’s Renault Zoe, whose market share is at 1,494.

Figures from the Department of Transport registrations of Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs) have increased by 1,864% since 2011 which has seen the number of EVs registered on Britain’s roads rise from 2,129 five years ago to almost 100,000 at the end of last year. In addition, the increased demand from the British public for ULEVs is reflected by government initiatives and budget plans. The recent Clean Growth Strategy proposal suggests there will be an investment of £1 billion ($1.3 billion) to support the take-up of electric and other low-emission vehicles.

A standardised green score from the Council for Energy-Efficient Economy has revealed that most of the best cars for efficiency and emissions are purely electric models and the list of the most highly-rated is dominated by Asian Toyota, Mitsubishi and Nissan.

Simon Bayley, sales and marketing director of Moneybarn, said: “It’s a potentially exciting time for the UK car industry. Electric and alternative energy cars have now moved into the mainstream and are here to stay. With the government investing £1b in this sector there is an alignment between manufacturers and government that will hopefully encourage consumer purchasing for years to come.”  

A full breakdown of the number of registrations from 2011 to 2016 is available on the %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external website false https://www.moneybarn.com/emission-impossible/ false false%>.

Related Content

  • October 23, 2018
    Scoot Networks to deploy electric scooters in Chile
    Scoot Networks will gradually deploy 500 electric scooters in Santiago, Chile, to offer citizens a more sustainable mobility option. The pilot programme will take place in Las Condes' business district as part of an agreement with mayor Joaquin Lavin. Gonzalo Cortez, general manager for Santiago, says the scooters reduce air pollution, make streets safer, keep money in the local economy and makes mobility more affordable. In June, Scoot delivered 500 electric scooters and 1,000 electric bicycles in
  • June 28, 2019
    ASTC to operate e-bus service in India
    The Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) is to deploy 15 electric buses in Guwahati, a city in north-east India. The project is part of the Indian government’s FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles) scheme. A report by Business Standard says each bus will carry up to 31 passengers along a 6.4km route between the neighbourhoods of Kachari and Kamakhya. ASTC will operate a second service along a 38km route from the Inter State Bus Terminal while also running another service in
  • February 8, 2018
    Dundee launches call for real-world testing of transport technology
    Dundee City Council has launched a call of almost £1m ($1.3m) on behalf of the city’s Mobility Innovation Living Laboratory, which is looking for new products, services and business models that can be trialled using the city as a test-bed. The request is part of a joint venture to create and bring together smart mobility knowledge with a deadline for submissions on the 2 March 2018. Proposals are sought into five lots which include advanced mobility services for the public; advanced fleet services
  • February 12, 2018
    Inrix: Congestion cost UK motorists over £37bn in 2017
    The UK is the third most congested country in Europe and the tenth most congested country in the world where costs amounted to more than £37.7bn ($52.2bn) for all drivers in 2017, an average of £1,168 ($2,233) per person. These findings come from Inrix’s annual Global Traffic Scorecard which analysed and ranked the impact of traffic congestion in 1,360 cities across 38 countries. London remained the UK’s most congested major city for the tenth consecutive year as drivers spent an average of 74 hours in