The number of plug-in cars registered in the second quarter of 2016 set a new record for a three-month period, with UK registrations rising by 38.0% versus April-June 2015, according to new figures released by EV campaign organisation Go Ultra Low.
Plug-in car registrations have now grown for 22 consecutive quarters, and the total registered across the first six months of 2016 sits at 19,252, a figure not achieved last year until September.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV on 5738 and Nissan Leaf on 2336 continue to lead the charts for plug-in hybrid and full electric vehicle sales, respectively, and Go Ultra Low is predicting that electric power could be the dominant form of propulsion by 2027, with more than
1.3 million plug-ins registered per year.
The news comes as Nissan is predicting that public EV charging points will outnumber petrol filling stations by the end of the decade.
At the end of last year, fuel stations numbered 8472, and the manufacturer predicted that this would be down to 7870 within four years. During the same period, it claimed public charging points will pass the 7900 figure.
“As electric vehicle sales take off, the charging infrastructure is keeping pace and paving the way for convenient all-electric driving,” said Nissan’s EV manager Edward Jones, who also claimed that improvements in battery performance has led to the “tipping point” for mass EV uptake arriving.
“As with similar breakthrough technologies, the adoption of electric vehicles should follow an S-curve of demand,” he said. “A gradual uptake from early adopters accelerates to a groundswell of consumers buying electric vehicles just as they would any other powertrain.”
“I am delighted to see record numbers of motorists coming round to the benefits of cleaner, greener vehicles, which are also cheaper to run,” declared transport minister John Mahes. “We want to make the UK a world leader in electric vehicle uptake and manufacture, to ensure that by 2050 every car and van on our roads is a zero-emission vehicle.”
The latest firm to adopt plug-in vehicles is Shepherd Chartered Surveyors, which has added 15 BMW 330e plug-in hybrids to its 140-vehicle fleet.
“Despite driving being a necessary and substantial feature of the surveyors’ day-to-day business activity, Shepherd has been keen to. travel in the most environmentally friendly way possible,” said George Brewster, senior partner at Shepherd.