Just over a quarter of new plug-in cars are registered by private buyers, with sales of electric vehicles being driven forward by fleets according to new statistics. Fleet News reports that 72 per cent of plug-in car sales were registered to businesses rather than private users in the first half of 2016.
When you compare overall market shares, private sales account for 43.3 per cent of total registrations from January to July 2016, indicating that greater numbers of companies are making the most of lower running costs and financial benefits associated with buying and running electric vehicles.
When conventionally fuelled vehicle sales are included in the mix, registrations of plug-in vehicles accounted for 1.7 per cent of fleet and business sales for the first seven months of 2016, as opposed to 1.2 per cent of total cars registered – private, fleet and business combined.
The business world is amplifying general trends too in the case that pure-electric cars only make up 0.5 per cent of the market, with plug-in hybrids almost having a monopoly on the sector. Many business users will be fearful of running out of range – or know that considerable numbers of miles are covered during a day – and consider the safety net of a PHEV’s engine the biggest selling point when combined with financial incentives similar to those of pure EVs.
The latest set of model-by-model sales figures available – covering up to the first three months of 2016 – shows PHEVs account for 59 per cent of total PiCG registrations, and increasing steadily. By the end of Q1 2012, that ratio stood at 2 per cent, 22 per cent a year later in 2013, 26 per cent for 2014, and 51 per cent in 2015.
The trend of the plug-in car market being driven forward by businesses could well continue in the short term at least, with increasing numbers of firms being awarded Go Ultra Low Company status. This involves the business or organisation committing to increasing the amount of electric vehicles used within its fleet over a set amount of time.
Find out which plug-in cars are available to buy in the UK here, or you can take a look at the Zap-Map stats page for more EV related facts and figures.
