There are now more than half a million pure-electric cars on UK roads

With the latest numbers from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) out today, we can now say that there are officially more than half a million pure-electric cars on UK roads. Despite overall sales of new cars dropping by nearly 25% compared to June 2021, new registrations of pure-electric cars showed an increase of almost 15%.

Indeed, pure-electric cars – also known as battery-electric cars, or BEVs – were the only vehicle type in June to increase sales year-on-year, with sales of all other car types decreasing.

However, it’s not just electric cars that have shown an increase since June 2021. New EV charging statistics from Zap-Map show that there are now 32,663 total charging devices across the UK. Certain areas have shown impressive growth, such as ultra-rapid charging devices, which have seen a 67% increase since June last year.

The Zap-Map graph below shows the number of new battery-electric cars registered each month over the the past 13 months.

June 2022 saw a total of 30,451 new plug-in car registrations, comprising 22,737 BEVs and 7,714 PHEVs. This takes the cumulative total of plug-in cars on UK roads – as of the end of June – to over 910,000. That total comprises over 510,000 BEVs and almost 400,000 PHEVs.

Th chart above displays the cumulative number of battery-electric cars in the UK since 2016. So far in 2022, over 115,000 BEVs have been sold in the UK, alongside more than 51,000 PHEVs.

Last month’s sales saw plug-in cars take 21.6% of market share, with BEVs accounting for 16.1% of overall car sales in June.

This means that plug-in cars currently represent 20.8% of market share in 2022, with BEVs at 14.4% and PHEVs at 6.4%.

June also saw the Tesla Model Y take the second spot in the UK’s top ten bestsellers, with almost 4,200 models sold. While the Model Y was the only pure-electric car to enter the top ten last month, the latest EV charging statistics from Zap-Map show that 829 new charging devices were installed in June. This brings the UK total to more than 32,663 devices, across 19,960 locations. It also represents a 34% increase in the number of charging devices since June 2021.

Moreover, last month saw 207 new rapid and ultra-rapid charging devices installed, bringing the total to 6,018. This includes an increase of 67% in the number of ultra-rapid devices – capable of adding from 70 miles in as little as 15 minutes – since June last year.

Looking ahead, SWARCO and Cornwall Council have partnered to deliver EV chargers across the county, while InstaVolt has received a significant £110m funding boost in order to expand its rapid charging network.