Electric car registrations reached their highest half-year volumes in the first six months of 2016, with 19,252 electric cars registered between January and June compared to 14,612 registrations for the same period in 2015 - a 31.8% increase. 

April to June this year also marked the 22nd consecutive quarterly rise for plug-in car uptake with 38% more electric cars registered compared to the same timeframe in 2015, building on a 27.4% increase in the first quarter.

Total registration volumes since the Government introduced its Plug-in Car Grant in January 2011 are now close to 70,000 units.

Transport Minister John Hayes said: “I am delighted to see record numbers of motorists coming round to the benefits of cleaner, greener vehicles, which are also cheaper to run. 

"The low-emission sector supports over 18,000 UK jobs and is a key pillar in our ambition for a low carbon, high tech and high skills economy.

"We want to make the UK a world leader in electric vehicle uptake and manufacture, to ensure that by 2050 every car and van on our roads is a zero emission vehicle.

"We are backing this with one of the most comprehensive support packages in the world, with more than £600 million of Government investment to help grow the UK market.”

Poppy Welch, head of Go Ultra Low, said: “The continued growth in uptake of electric cars speaks for itself as registration records continue to be broken by motorists encouraged by the benefits electric motoring can bring.

"As awareness grows and motorists see the wide variety of vehicles already on UK roads coupled with benefits such as running costs from as little as 2p per mile, more drivers than ever are becoming motivated to go green.

"Since the introduction of the Plug-In Car Grant in 2011 the variety of electric models has expanded significantly, notably so in the past two years, giving motorists more choice than ever before.”

March 2016 was the best-ever month for electric car uptake when, boosted by a registration-plate change, there were 7,440 registrations. June recorded the year’s second highest volume of 3,196 new cars registered, up 23% year-on-year. 

Of the registrations this year the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV has proved the most popular with 5,738 rolling on to UK roads, while the Nissan Leaf remains the most popular pure-electric car with 2,336 first-half registrations in 2016.

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