South East: SMMT figures show electric vehicles helped make ­2016 a bumper year

The latest figures on new car registrations from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal that adoption of electric vehicles was up 3.3% on 2015, with more than 10,000 motorists choosing to go electric. This a been a significant factor in making 2016 a bumper year for the UK’s new car market. Annual registrations on all types of cars have climbed for the fifth year in a row to almost 2.7 million.

Tim Payne, CEO of Basingstoke-based InstaVolt, which is on a mission to install more than 3,000 rapid-charging points for electric vehicles in the UK by 2020, commented: “This is fantastic news not just for the electric-vehicle market and the UK economy but also for the environment. The fact that 10,000 motorists chose to switch to electric last year shows that the British public is mindful about the impact of vehicles on the environment and is willing to embrace new technology to minimise that.”

Payne, whose company InstaVolt is different from many other electric-vehicle charging companies because it offers a pay-as-you-go charging service with no subscription required, said he would not be surprised to see the figure to rise even further in 2016. He added: “The Government is ploughing millions into the charging infrastructure and as every year passes, the reasons not to go electric are getting fewer and fewer.” 

The latest figures from the SMMT show the UK’s new car market has experienced a rise in 10 out of the past 12 months, albeit finishing with a December down slightly by -1.1%, with 178,022 new cars registered in the month. Alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs) experienced a strong rise in demand, being up 22.2% across the year. Plug-in hybrids and petrol-electric hybrids, in particular, experienced significant growth, with demand up 41.9% and 25.1% respectively.

Fleets were responsible for most of the growth, with demand growing to a record 1.38 million units. The private market remains at a historically high level, with more than 1.2 million private buyers registering a new car in 2016.