The UK saw 9.75% plugin electric vehicle market share in August 2020, up from 4.4% in August 2019. Year to date plugin share now stands at 8.2%. The overall auto market was down 5.8% compared to a year ago, at just over 87,000 units.

The UK auto industry body, the SMMT, doesn’t report individual model results in its monthly general summaries. However, we can get a sense of the UK’s favoured plugin models in the first half of 2020 (i.e., not yet including July or August sales), from the European Alternative Fuels Observatory.

We can see that the Tesla Model 3, Nissan LEAF, MG ZS EV, Jaguar I-Pace, and Renault Zoe were the most popular BEVs, all selling over 2000 units in the first half of the year. The BMW 330e and the Mitsubishi Outlander were highest selling PHEVs.

The MG ZS EV deserves a shout out for grabbing the 3rd place spot for BEVs in its first full year of availability — a great achievement.

Notably, the Tesla Model 3 was by far the most popular UK plugin in the first half of the year, outselling the next 4 BEVs combined. Let’s see if September will bring another strong end-of-quarter performance for the Tesla.

Read more: Clean Technica

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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has called on government to commit to significant long-term incentives for electric vehicle (EV) purchase and binding targets on charging infrastructure, as a new survey suggests almost half of UK motorists don’t feel ready to make the switch by 2035.

The call was made as more than 20 leading car brands came together at a special EV driving event to highlight the growing range of exciting new technologies already on the market, demonstrating the industry’s commitment to getting Britain’s motorists on the road to zero.

EVs are rapidly growing in popularity, with demand more than doubling over the last year thanks to massive industry investment worth some £54 billion in 2019 alone.

Over the last 12 months, the number of plug-in hybrid and full electric models has leapt from 62 to 83, with more scheduled for launch in the coming months. Consumers can now choose from a raft of technologies to suit their driving needs, from plug-in hybrids capable of an average 38 miles’ zero emission driving on a single charge, to full electric models with ranges of up to 300 miles, and hydrogen-electric cars that emit nothing but water.

A new SMMT survey by Savanta ComRes confirms keen interest from consumers in this technology with drivers most attracted to the lower running costs (41%) and chance to improve the environment (29%). However, while these cars now account for one in six models on sale (17%), they make up just one in 13 purchases (8%).

The survey found the biggest factors holding buyers back are higher purchase prices (52%), lack of local charging points (44%) and fear of being caught short on longer journeys (38%). While, encouragingly, a third (37%) are optimistic about buying a full EV by 2025, 44% don’t think they’ll be ready by 2035, with 24% saying that they can’t ever see themselves owning one.

SMMT is calling for a long-term commitment to incentives, including the continuation of the Plug-in Grant and its re-introduction for plug-in hybrids – a technology critical to the transition, giving higher mileage drivers reassuring flexibility and delivering environmental benefits now.

This commitment, alongside VAT exemptions for all zero emission capable cars, would reduce the upfront price of a family car by an average £5,500 for battery electric cars and £4,750 for plug-in hybrids, and for an SUV by £9,750 and £8,000 respectively – vital given the high cost of producing this advanced new technology. This would bring them more in line with petrol and diesel equivalents and potentially drive some 2.4 million sales over the next five years, with an estimated 28% market share by 2025 compared with 8% today.

Read more: TaxiPoint

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NUMBER plate changes introduced from Monday will see electric car prices dramatically fall by over £2,000, according to experts at Octopus Electric Vehicles.

Number plate changes will ensure a spate of discounts on older models with some electric cars set to fall by £2,208 on average in a 4.7 percent decline. DVLA plate launches usually lead to a dramatic boost in sales for the market with experts predicting September could be the best month for the industry in 2020 after months of lockdown.

Dealerships often sell a lot of their older stock to make room for the latest models and plates which cleaves customers able to secure great deals.

An Octopus Electric Vehicles spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “For those looking for a September bargain, EVs are already being offered with discounts of five percent on average.

“That’s over £2,000! – as the new registration plates come in.

“Not only that but with running costs at just a couple of pence a mile.

“Potentially saving drivers thousands of pounds a year, EVs really are a no brainer for those watching the pennies.”

Electric car sales have boomed so far in 2020 with sales up 174.6 percent year on year.

July recorded another major surge for fully electric models with sales up a massive 259.4 percent when compared to last year.

Changes in electric car tax have helped the cars finally get off the ground while plug-in hybrid grants have offered extra incentives.

Read more: Express

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Globally the number of electric vehicles (EVs) on the roads is expected to jump to 323 million by 2040 according to new research by Wood Mackenzie.

Sales are expected to reach 45 million units per year over the next 20 years, leading to this surge in numbers. In the UK, a surge in EV sales is already underway, with battery electric vehicles sales increasing 261.8% in June compared to the same month in 2019.

However, these figures have been revised down due to the impact of COVID-19 worldwide, which will delay total vehicle sales by as much as two years.

In markets like Europe and China, the strong focus on a green recovery will likely help drive forwards EV adoption, however the US response has not been favourable for electrification of transport.

“Despite EV stock growing to 35 times its current size, the transport emissions curve will flatten and not fall. The global CO2 emissions contribution of transport will increase by 1.3 megatons between now and 2040,” said Ram Chandrasekaran, Wood Mackenzie’s principal analyst.

Adoption of EVs is being driven by strict regulatory targets around the world, in the UK this includes the impending ban on the sale of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles. This is currently set for 2035, but there have been many calls to bring forwards this date.

There are few barriers left for commercial EV adoption, continued Wood Mackenzie, meaning we are likely to see a step change in the coming years. It has projected commercial EV sales to top 5.5 million a year by 2040, with global stock hitting 40 million.

Read more: Current

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• Global Action Plan says 15% of all new cars sold by manufacturers should be EVsIt says 5.7m cars on UK roads are second vehicles in households, which based on their shorter driving distances should be electrified to cut emissions
• It wants tougher targets for electric vehicle quotas for brands, despite proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2035
• Study has calculated which new – and forthcoming – EVs are cheapest to run

The Government should enforce new rules that require 15 per cent of all new cars sold by manufacturers to be fully electric vehicles, according to a campaign group.

With the latest pure electric models becoming more affordable and offering longer driving ranges between charges, charity Global Action Plan says ministers should force the hand of car firms to do more to promote plug-in vehicles.

It said the Government has allowed ‘corporate failure’ in recent years, with auto firms permitted to market gas-guzzling SUVs when cleaner vehicles should be promoted.

A calculation has revealed which on-sale electric models cost the least to drive 100 miles – find out which cars top the charts below.

Lat year, just 1.6 per cent of all new cars bought in the UK were Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs).

They accounted for 37,850 of the 2.3million new motors that entered our road network in 2019.

However, the market share of BEVs is much higher so far this term, with more drivers making the switch to zero-emission cars already in 2020 than they did in 2019 as a whole.

By the end of July, a total of 39,119 new BEVs have been purchased by drivers, which account for 4.7 per cent of the 828,400 vehicle registrations in 2020.

Read more: This Is Money