The growth in electric vehicles has largely been due to the Government announcing a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, subsequently moved to 2035. After this time you’ll be unable to sell a new purely petrol or diesel vehicle to consumers.

For many, 2035 may seem like it’s a long-time away, but over the next few years, the market will experience a profound step change as the volume of electric vehicle sales rise, while the sale of their fossil-fuelled counterparts slows. Crucially, whilst the ban may have been shifted, the ZEV mandate, which requires that a certain proportion of new car sales will have to be zero emission i.e., electric, remains in place. This effectively means that, with a minimum of 80% of new car sales having to be electric by 2030, the timeline to electric remains the same as it was under the 2030 ban.

So, with the continuing ‘defleeting’ of the circa 750,000 electric vehicles sold over the last three years and the ongoing push from manufacturers to achieve their ZEV mandates, market dynamics are set to change rapidly. Put simply, if you aren’t gearing up for electric now then you’re already behind.

New car sales will continue to grow throughout the decade with 80% of new car sales in 2030 expected to be electric.

This growth in new car sales, which was originally driven by the now delayed 2030 ban, will continue due to the Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate setting the minimum levels of new EV sales that manufacturers must adhere to.

As new EV sales grow, so to will the volume of EVs on UK roads. We will see the percentage of EVs in the UK car parc continue to climb as we head ever closer to 2030 and beyond.