EV demand triples according to fresh data

Annual EV sales almost tripled according to new data released by Volkswagen Financial Services UK (VWFS).

It found that annual finance cases for battery electric vehicles (BEV) surged 160% from 2020 to 2021. This trend is all the more impressive considering the level of volatililty the automotive industry has faced in recent times, with EV sales increasing in spite of Brexit, the Covid-19 pandemic and the semiconductor shortage.

The data also found that people are also now more likely to buy an EV (26%) than use public transport (24%), or buy a petrol or diesel car (19%) compared to before the pandemic.

Volkswagen Financial Services UK has named Swindon as the nation’s top EV location, with more finance cases for electric cars activated in the Wiltshire town than anywhere else in the UK last year.

Regionally, however, the Midlands is the UK’s EV hotspot, with Stratford-upon-Avon, Tamworth and Solihull all listed in the car finance provider’s top five locations for EV finance activations in 2021. Guildford in Surrey completes the top five.

Mike Todd, CEO at Volkswagen Financial Services UK, said: “The UK’s electric car market is in overdrive at the moment and the rapid acceleration of demand for electromobility has led to a phenomenal growth in this sector. We’ve never had more EVs on our roads than we do right now, but I think the challenge in the short to medium term is to ensure that the public charging network keeps pace with the increasing popularity of electric vehicles.

“Industry leaders have reported that to meet the government’s decarbonisation targets, we need to transition from one in a hundred cars on our roads being electric, to potentially one in three in just eight years. It’s a tall order but if our data is anything to go by, I believe we are well on our way to achieving these important milestones.”