Plug-in electric car ownership up 76% in 2018

There is now a record 195,410 plug-in vehicles on UK roads, after plug-in registrations increased by 76.6% last year, according to new Motorparc data released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Overall ownership of alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) increased by almost 30%, with more than 620,000 hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric cars now in use.

Furthermore, analysis shows that CO2 emissions have fallen to the lowest on record, down 17.8% compared with 2008.

The UK’s record 34.9 million-strong car fleet has never been more diverse, with more than 1,600 model ranges and almost 68,000 different specifications on the roads last year.

While superminis continued to dominate, making up a third (33.2%) of all cars in the parc, dual purpose vehicles saw the biggest growth, up 10.6%. At the same time, family hatches and saloons (upper medium) saw the largest fall, down 4.7% to four million.

Meanwhile, the colours of Britain’s cars closely follows trends seen in the new car market, with black coming top, knocking silver off the top spot. More than seven million (20.1%) cars on the road are black, closely followed by silver and, in third place, blue. 

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Thanks to massive investment from manufacturers in delivering a wide range of models across all fuel types, to suit all driving needs, environmental gains are now being delivered across the UK.

“Ever-more advanced in technology makes every new generation of vehicle more efficient than the last, and this is filtering rapidly from the new car market into the broader parc.

“Fleet renewal is proven to work so we need a world-class package of incentives and infrastructure to give motorists the confidence to buy the latest, cleanest cars, whatever the fuel type, in the greater numbers we need to meet environmental challenges.”

The average new or updated car model emits 8.3% less CO2 than the model it replaced, highlighting the importance of fleet renewal.

The SMMT Motorparc database enables the analysis of records for almost 40 million cars and commercial vehicles currently on the road, broken down by make, model, region, town and postcode.