Electric vehicles are a young person’s game, according to new research which found that 18-24-year-olds are more likely to go electric than any other age group.

More than half of 18-24-year-olds (51.8%) said they would consider acquiring an electric car, significantly more than the 31% of 35-44-year-olds and 33.9% of those aged between 45-54.

The cost of going electric won’t break the bank either with personal lease deals for Renault’s Zoe [pictured] starting from £183 a month.

The less encouraging news though is 60% of the 770 UK motorists, surveyed by van leasing and facilities management company Direct365, are completely uninterested in going electric.

Read more: Direct365 via Contract Hire and Leasing

I’m not surprised – I see more plug-ins on the roads every week.

August is typically one of the slowest month for car sales in the UK, although in relation to previous years it still brings solid growth of some 71% more plug-in electric car registrations (879 total).

Market share of plug-ins stands at 1.11%, which is third highest ever.

In August, approximately 578 registrations were PHEVs and 301 BEVs.

So far this year, sales of PHEVs in the UK are about twice the volume of BEVs (over 11,000 vs nearly 5,500).

Next up is September, and we expect at least some 5,000 plug-ins to be sold.

Source: Inside EVs

A key milestone to celebrate!

Plug-in electrified vehicles (PEVs) have transcended one million sales worldwide.

Included in this count are highway legal, light-duty all-electric cars and plug-in hybrids sold in markets around the globe.

Plug-in cars started in negligible volumes last decade, but the mass-market began just less than five years ago. The first half million came in July 2014, and now one year and two months later another half million have been sold.

In December 2014 HybridCars.com reported 712,000 plug-in sales globally, and nearly 300,000 more sales have taken place over the past nine months.

As of August 2015 the count was 985,000 less Japanese sales numbers which were not reported yet, and as of mid-September, an estimated 1,004,000 PEVs have been sold consisting of 62 percent battery electric and 38 percent plug-in hybrids.

Read more: Hybrid Cars

A report from the National Academy of Sciences looks at barriers and adoption.

One of the more challenging jobs the auto industry has right now is explaining to consumers that the future isn’t going to be like the past. We desperately need to reduce vehicle carbon emissions in order to avoid turning the planet into a hellscape, and that means turning to cars with some kind of energy storage other than hydrocarbons we’ve dug up from the ground and then distilled. That’s where people get confused and the message stalls, a problem laid out in a recent report from the National Academy of Sciences.

For many decades cars have been simple things with internal combustion engines. They burned gasoline or sometimes diesel and occasionally even liquified natural gas. Sometimes they had turbochargers or superchargers to ram more air into the combustion chamber, and very occasionally that combustion chamber was something odd like a Wankel rotary engine. Now, the need to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality means many more options when it comes to a vehicle’s powertrain.

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One surefire way to get that message across is to give people an EV experience, according to Pam Fletcher, the chief engineer for EVs at General Motors (GM):

“The people that have owned and lived with EVs can understand it, they’ve seen how the vehicles work for them, It’s part of the learning curve and more people will understand it over time,” she said. “It’s hard to explain to people the benefits if they haven’t had that experience.”

Read more: Ars Technica

The Government has announced that its Plug-in Car Grant will continue until at least February 2016.

Revealed this week (Wednesday 26th August), the grant will remain open to motorists looking to buy a new ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) until early 2016 at a minimum. A longer term plan will be drawn up and announced after the Government’s November spending review.

The grant, which offers motorists up to £5,000 of the price of an electric car, has been extended for all categories of vehicle and aims to build on the recent growth of the plug-in car market.

Before this announcement, the plan was to run the scheme until 50,000 grants had been awarded but, with around 40,000 grants already made and sales of ULEVs accelerating, forecasts were coming in for the scheme to have reached its limit around November 2015. As a result of the extension, all plug-in cars with CO2 emissions of 75 g/km of under will remain eligible for the grant until February.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones MP said:

“I’m pleased to announce today that the government is maintaining the current levels of grant, even as we move past the milestone of 50,000 vehicles. The UK is now the fastest growing market for electric vehicles in Europe. We will continue to invest to help make this technology affordable to everyone and to secure the UK’s position as a global leader.”

Hetal Shah, Head of Go Ultra Low, the Government backed campaign to promote ultra low-emission vehicles, said:

“Continuing the Plug-in Car Grant at current levels is positive news for everyone, as it encourages zero-emission motoring and secures more funding for a greater number of ULEV buyers. This announcement demonstrates the government’s commitment to supporting the growth of the ULEV market. If we are to meet ambitious targets for ULEV uptake, continued investment is paramount.”

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said:

“With British buyers taking to ultra-low emission vehicles faster than anyone else in Europe, the extension of the Plug-in Car Grant is good news. The market for these vehicles remains small, however, so it is essential that government continues to provide effective incentives for their uptake – including the Plug-in Car Grant and other measures.”

With more choice of plug-in vehicles than ever, the number of grants awarded is expected to continue increasing rapidly. Ranges from the likes of Audi, BMW, Mitsubishi, Renault, Toyota and Volkswagen all feature zero or low-emission models and sales have increased to the extent that 2014’s ULEV sales figure was passed in 2015 with six months to spare.

Source: Next Green Car

Finally electric cars become aspirational!

New research released today by Go Ultra Low has found that the majority of car buyers aspire to own high-tech, ultra-low emission electric vehicles to score social points over their neighbours and peers.

According to Go Ultra Low, it is clear that many UK drivers aspire to the cost benefits, style and convenience of electric motoring. The survey found that 67% of the population identified alternatively-fuelled vehicles as a purchase consideration.

Three quarters of motorists said that running costs were the biggest consideration when choosing their next car, making the argument for switching to ultra low emission vehicles even more compelling.

Hetal Shah, Head of Go Ultra Low, said:

“Our research shows that, after purchase price, the top things motorists look for in a new car are affordable running costs, comfort, space and style. The huge variety of electric vehicles now on the market is changing motorists’ concept of desirability.

The majority of consumers surveyed aspiring to the new breed of quiet, refined, technology-packed plug-in vehicles. We’re confident that this year alone we’ll see thousands more motorists up and down Britain plugging-in to this growing trend.”