Sales of new electric cars saw significant growth in June 2020, as car dealerships reopened in England at the start of the month, following lockdown. Pure-electric cars were up 262% compared to June 2019, taking 6.1% of the new car market, compared to sales of all new cars down 35% in June.
That’s according to statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which also show growth in plug-in hybrids of 117% and a 3.4% market share. Combined, plug-in vehicles accounted around one in every ten new cars sold, with growth far outstripping all other sectors.
Pure-EVs saw their second most successful month ever in terms of outright sales, with the 8,903 units behind only March 2020’s figure of almost 11,700. It was the third most successful month for pure-EVs in terms of market share, behind the previous two months’ figures, as EVs performed particularly strongly during full dealership lockdown.
For the year to date, which brings us up to the half way point, pure-electric cars are up almost 160% compared to the first six months of 2019 – which didn’t have a global pandemic to contend.
Table courtesy of SMMT
Just under 40,000 new pure-EVs have been sold in the UK in the first half of 2020, less than 7,000 units short of 2019’s total pure-electric sales. Combined electric and PHEV sales are 86% ahead of 2019’s half year total. As such, the electric car market is on course for another record year, despite having significantly hit sales for at least two months due to lockdown.
Tesla’s Model 3 once again made the monthly top 10 sales chart from the SMMT, though rather than topping the table as it had in April and May, in June it sits in 9th place.
Considering June is the first month where steps have been taken towards ‘normality’ in car dealerships, it’s encouraging to see a pure-electric car remain in the month’s top 10 figures – particularly as all other models in the list start at much less than the £40,000 cost of an entry level Model 3.
June was expected to be something of a boom-month considering buyers had been severely restricted in being able to get new cars for the previous few months. As such, it will be interesting to see how the market continues in July’s figures, though these are expected to be boosted by the reopening of dealerships in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.