Mitsubishi Outlander remains most popular plug-in EV

The Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid remains the most common ultra-low emission car on the road.

Analysis by the RAC Foundation of the latest DVLA data shows there were 25,447 Outlanders on the road at the end of 2016, significantly ahead of the pure-battery electric Nissan Leaf at 14,718.

The third most popular was the Mercedes-Benz C350 e (5,890) which pushed the BMW i3 (5,858) down into fourth place. Fifth was the Renault Zoe (4,974).

At the end of 2016 there were a total of 83,169 licensed plug-in car and van grant eligible vehicles on the UK’s roads - a 74% increase on 2015 (47,922).

Three of the five vehicles with the highest growth in licensed numbers over the quarter (end of quarter four compared with quarter three) were plug-in hybrid (PHEV) versions of regular cars:

1)Mitsubishi Outlander (PHEV) – 1,696 increase

2)Mercedes-Benz C350 e (PHEV) – 1,134

3)BMW 330 e (PHEV) – 895

4)Nissan Leaf (pure battery electric) – 655

5)BMW i3 (pure battery electric or range extended) - 641

Under the Government’s plug-in grant schemes: car buyers can get a grant of up to £4,500 depending on the model and van buyers a grant of up to £8,000.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “Six years into the plug-in grant scheme and the case for continued pump-priming looks strong if the Government really wants to kick start the market.

“Although the year-on-year growth might look impressive at 74%, it’s a rise from quite a small base, in a year when the total number of new car registrations hit an all-time high.

“2017 will be critical for the ultra-low emission world as several new models with much improved range are set to come into the showrooms.”

This is the list of all 48 vehicles that are, or have been, eligible for the Government’s plug-in car and van grant schemes and which were on the road in the UK at the end of Q4 2016 (the most recent date for which figures are available).

Make and Model	Q4 2016	Q3 2016	Q2 2016	Q1 2016	Q4 2015
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (all variants)	25,447	23,751	21,708	19,945	16,100
Nissan Leaf	14,718	14,063	12,837	12,469	11,219
Mercedes-Benz C350 e	5,890	4,756	3,337	1,898	628
BMW i3 (of which are range extender version)	5,858 (4,198)	5,217 (3,700)	4,457 (3,131)	4,065 (2,855)	3,574 (2,440)
Renault Zoe	4,974	4,744	4,339	3,918	3,327
Tesla Model S	4,454	3,907	3,312	2,826	2,087
BMW 330e	3,447	2,552	1,479	340	-
Volkswagen Golf GTE	3,231	3,059	2,657	1,970	1,359
Nissan e-NV200 (all variants)	1,886	1,710	1,487	1,243	1,047
Audi A3 e-tron	1,806	1,699	1,634	1,445	1,218
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid	1,671	1,667	1,655	1,651	1,580
Volvo Xc90 T8 Twin Engine	1,610	1,159	813	561	38
BMW i8	1,549	1,446	1,307	1,163	1,022
Vauxhall Ampera	1,278	1,258	1,267	1,261	1,272
Renault Kangoo ZE	838	805	785	755	740
Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (all variants)	610	484	410	366	337
Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid	515	498	475	454	395
BMW 225xe	460	290	163	65	-
Peugeot Ion	418	413	405	383	374
Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive	375	333	303	193	162
Mitsubishi i-Miev	261	255	252	257	251
Kia Soul EV	245	244	193	170	145
Kia Optima Saloon PHEV	231	207
Citroen C-Zero	227	220	213	192	167
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive	209	213	215	214	212
Volkswagen Passat GTE	180	72	2	2	2
Volkswagen e-up!	164	161	154	150	142
Volkswagen e-Golf	135	129	123	120	114
Mercedes-Benz S500 Hybrid	124	124	125	129	157
Chevrolet Volt	119	121	119	122	122
Renault Fluence	75	78	79	78	70
Audi Q7 e-tron	62	68
Tesla Model X	42
Ford Focus Electric	22	22	22	19	19
Mia (all variants)	13	14	15	15	15
Daimler Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell	13	20	22	23	23
Toyota Mirai	12	12	11	9	4
BYD e6	-	-	-	-	-
BD Otomotiv eTraffic	-	-	-	-	-
BD Otomotiv eDucato	-	-	-	-	-
Citroen Berlingo EV	-	-	-	-	-
Peugeot ePartner	-	-	-	-	-
Smith Electric Smith Edison	-	-	-	-	-
Mahindra e20	-	-	-	-
Hyundai IONIQ EV	-	-
Mercedes-Benz E350 e	-	-
BMW 530e	-
Mini Countryman PHEV	-
Total	83,169	75,771	66,375	58,471	47,922

Note: Some of the vehicles above might have been bought without the grant. Some might be licensed to manufacturers and dealers rather than customers. The total number licensed is below the total number of grants claimed because of the lag between an order being placed and the car being delivered.