Sales of electric cars at record high

Sales of electric cars at record high

New figures show that the UK automotive market is currently experiencing it's highest ever levels of electric car sales.

With two sets of sales data to work with, one official Government statistics, and one set from industry leaders the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), we see that whilst some numbers do not exactly match up, both nevertheless show a huge increase in electric car sales.

Sales of such vehicles were up 25% in the past quarter, according to the Government data, and this is equal to 1,149 sales of new electric cars during July to September this year. This is the highest quarterly figure seen since the government introduced their grant scheme offering £5,000 towards new electric vehicles two years ago. The SMMT's figures offer a slightly lower number of vehicles sold, with 978 being purchased in the third quarter, but this is still up on April to June figures.

Despite these promising figures, Renault-Nissan has revised it's target date to sell 1.5 million of it's electric vehicles. Originally targeting the end of the year in 2016 for reaching it's milestone, the carmaker has now increased this date to then end of 2020. The company's Nissan Leaf has become the flagship for the electric vehicle initiative by the Government, but the market has moved on and has vastly increased it's array of battery-powered cars available.

From the same stable comes the popular Renault Zoe, whilst BMW have the electric i3 on offer, and Vauxhall the Ampera. Ford are offering a new electric version of it's Focus, which means the best selling car in the world is available with green fuel. The firm is also planning an electric luxury vehicle in the future.

With the benefits of electric vehicles, such as tax breaks and zero emissions, being widely extolled, it seems the market for such vehicles can only go one way.

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