Electric vehicles hit new high of 5.6% market share in May 2018

Electric vehicles market share hit new high of 5.6% in May 2018

Latest SMMT figures released show that electric and hybrid vehicles have hit a new market share high of 5.6%. New car registration figures for May 2018 show a year on year increase of 36.1%. This compares to growth in petrol of 23.5% and a decline in diesels of 23.6%. The trend of moving away from diesel cars continues, market share of diesels dropping from 43.8% to 32.3%. Overall the market grew 3.4% YoY.

Breaching 5% of market share is an important step in the market development of AFV (alternative fuel vehicles). Above 5% pushed the market from its innovation stage to that of early adopters, as explained in our article on the innovation adoption lifecycle.

Once the early adapters on the adoption lifecycle take hold the market will start to grow rapidly as they spread the word on the benefits of electric and hybrid vehicles. Year to date there have been over 57,000 AVFs registered in the UK. This is a YOY growth of 19.5%.

Breaking down the numbers further show that although 100% electric vehicles grew by 18% to 1,099, they represent only 10% of the AFV market. Plug in hybrids (PHEV) had the highest growth of 72% with 3,973 registrations. Traditional hybrids with 6,168 registration showed a 23% growth.

Although the growth in AFVs is exciting, the high growth in PHEV vehicles over 100% electric vehicles is disappointing. Here at ECE we feel that this indicates that more Company Car Drivers are taking up the tax advantages of PHEV cars for financial reasons rather than embracing electric vehicles. Tougher requirements for tax relief would push users to more environmentally electric cars as most PHEVs do not meet their fuel economy figures in real world driving.