Surge in desire for battery electric vehicles

At least 200,000 new battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will be registered in the UK in 2021, according to new figures released from DriveElectric.

Based on the company’s own forecasts, it represents a significant increase from 108,205 – the number of battery electric vehicles registered in the UK in 2020 (based on new data released the Society of Motoring Manufacturers and Traders) – a figure which, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, even exceeded January 2020 forecast of 98,500 BEV registrations. The figure does not include plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).

Reasons for this substantial increase in EV numbers include:

The UK government’s announcement that sales of new petrol and diesel cars and vans will end by 2030 (and sales of plug-in hybrids will end by 2035) has already focused people’s minds on EVs.
Financial incentives for battery electric vehicles will remain, including a rate of just 1% Benefit in Kind (BIK) company car tax from April 2021 for a period of 12 months.
There is growing environmental awareness, about climate change and also about challenges with local air quality; EVs help to provide a solution in both areas.
Increasing numbers of proposed initiatives such as Clean Air Zones are resulting in organisations looking to renew their fleets with electric rather than petrol or diesel vehicles.
However there is one overriding factor which is responsible for the rapid increase in EV adoption: the vast majority of people vastly prefer the driving experience of EVs to petrol and diesel cars and vans.

Looking further ahead, high numbers of EV sales are predicted from 2025 onwards (around 50% of registrations). Registrations of petrol and diesel vehicles will decline naturally ahead of the 2030 ban, as people will stop buying them due to poor residual values and as EV prices become competitive with prices of ICE vehicles.

Peter Swain, MD of RBW Electric Classic Cars, said: “The interest in EV cars is growing at quite a pace now. Not only because of the deadline, but because the way electric vehicles are progressing, the advancements in infrastructure for charging, and the wealth of choice.”