UK drives into e-vehicle fast lane with 11% sales rise

(19 Apr 2018) Electric vehicles’ share of new UK registrations rises to 2%, still falling far short of Norway’s 48%.

Sales of electric cars in the UK have risen 11% on last year, putting the country in the premier league of those ditching petrol and diesel engines, though it is still miles behind Norway and China.

An analysis of the latest global sales of electric vehicles found that nearly half the vehicles registered in Norway in the first three months of 2018 were electric (48%), compared to just over a third (35%) during the same period in 2017. The vehicles are run almost exclusively off the nation’s hydropower resource, underlining Norway’s claim as the world leader.

China’s raw numbers were the most impressive, even if the total market share of e-vehicles was only 2% of new registrations.

In the first quarter of 2018, 142,445 electric vehicles – private cars, lorries, trucks and buses – were sold in China, a 154% increase on the previous year.

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, 19 Apr 2018: UK drives into e-vehicle fast lane with 11% sales rise