Plug-in car registrations pass 2014 total in first six months of 2015

More plug in cars have been registered in the first six months of 2015 than the whole of last year.

From January to June, 14,586 new registrations of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEV) were made, a significant year-to-date increase on the 4,096 of the same timeframe in 2014.

The volumes exceed last year’s 14,498 annual total registrations of vehicles eligible for Government’s Plug-in Car Grant, the highest volume ever at the year’s halfway point. The same comparison of January-June registrations for 2014 against 2013 saw an increase of 163%.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said: “Soaring demand across the UK shows that more and more people view ultra low emission vehicles as the right choice for them. Plug-in cars are green, cheap to run and benefit both families and businesses."

Government expectations that 5% of new car registrations (around 100,000 units) will be ultra low emission by 2020 look to be achievable at the current rate of growth. With 35 plug-in cars and vans currently on the market, the variety and scale of choice is contributing to the rapid growth.

“Being just six months in to 2015 and having already exceeded last year’s total plug-in car registrations is testament to consumer confidence in this capable and cost-effective technology,” said Hetal Shah, head of Go Ultra Low.

“The year-on-year rises give us great confidence in the future of electric cars as we move towards an ultra low emission future.”

Mitsubishi leads the new registrations charge, with 7,255 of its Outlander PHEV sold since the start of 2015. Nissan follows with its all-electric LEAF racking up 2,964 registrations, almost twice the 1,760 recorded at the same stage in 2014, and BMW’s i3 is the nation’s third most popular ULEV, also nearly doubling its registrations tally with 1,111 registrations.

At least £200 million has been made available to continue the Plug-in Car Grant from 2015-2020. Government is currently reviewing how the plug-in car grant is structured. Following this review, new levels of grant will be available based on each car’s CO2 emissions and the electric range of the vehicle.