New statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) and Zapmap show both new car registrations and the growth of electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in April.
New registrations of pure-electric cars showed a year-on-year increase of over 59%, with 20,522 models sold. Pure-electric cars came in second in terms of market share, behind only petrol cars. Indeed, pure-electric cars, or BEVs, accounted for 15.4% of all new car sales last month.
However, it’s not only electric cars that have demonstrated growth. New EV charging statistics from Zapmap show that there are now officially more than 42,000 public charging devices in the UK, with 42,566 total charging devices across the country at the end of April.
What’s more, key segments of the UK’s charging infrastructure continue to show impressive growth, such as ultra-rapid charging devices, which have seen a 79% increase since April last year.
The Zapmap graph below shows the number of new battery-electric cars registered each month over the the past 13 months.
April 2023 saw a total of 29,117 new plug-in car registrations, comprising 20,522 BEVs and 8,595 PHEVs.
This takes the cumulative total of plug-in cars on UK roads – as of the end of February – to over 1,250,500. That total comprises over 760,000 BEVs and more than 490,000 PHEVs.
The chart above displays the cumulative number of battery-electric cars in the UK since 2016.
So far in 2023, 96,755 BEVs have been sold in the UK, alongside 40,360 PHEVs.
Last month’s sales saw plug-in cars take 21.9% of market share, with BEVs accounting for 15.4% of overall car sales in April.
This means that plug-in cars currently represent 21.8% of market share in 2023, with PHEVs at 6.4%.
Although no pure-electric car came into the top 10 bestsellers in April, the latest EV charging statistics from Zapmap show that 2,029 new charging devices were installed across the country last month. This brings the UK total to 42,566 devices, across 24,909 locations. It also represents a 37% increase in the number of charging devices since April 2022.
Furthermore, last month saw 302 new rapid and ultra-rapid charging devices installed, bringing the total to 7,928. This includes an increase of 79% in the number of ultra-rapid devices – capable of adding from 70 miles in as little as 15 minutes – since April last year.
Looking ahead, ubitricity is installing on-street chargers in Lincolnshire, while the National Trust and RAW Charging have announced a deal to deliver charging provision across the Trust’s portfolio in England, Wales and Northern Ireland over the next three years.
