The Department for Transport figures show that 773 battery-electric cars were registered in Southampton at the end of last year – up from 474 a year earlier.

Southampton City Council’s aim is to improve air quality in the city by encouraging the use of electric vehicles, as a council-led scheme has seen the city’s licenced taxi and private hire drivers trial electric vehicles.

A spokesperson for Southampton City Council told the Daily Echo: “As a council we recognise the importance of improving air quality in the city, not only for the health and wellbeing of our residents but also for the environment.

“Through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) programme, we encouraged licenced taxi drivers as well as small business van drivers to trial electric vehicles to help reduce emissions with a discount of 50 per cent for a limited time until May 2023.  The programme enabled drivers to ‘try before they buy’ giving them the opportunity to experience the benefits of electric vehicles first-hand.

“We are pleased with the findings of the programme so far which have resulted in 46 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tc02e), saved during the scheme and this will increase as drivers continue to use their electric vehicles. “

They added: “Before the scheme started there were six licenced taxis electric vehicles, currently we are up to 21.