EV finance surges by 1062%

New research has underlined the pace of electrification within the UK car parc.

According to Volkswagen Financial Services UK (VWFS), annual finance cases for electric vehicles (BEV/PHEV/HEV) surged 1062% from July 2019 to July 2022.

Furthermore, the percentage of electric vehicles financed by the car finance company as a proportion of all vehicles in its parc has increased from one per cent in 2019 to seven per cent this year.

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.

Volkswagen Financial Services UK has also crowned Newcastle-upon-Tyne as the nation’s top EV hotspot, with more electric cars financed in the North East city in 2022 than anywhere else in the UK. The top five was completed by Southampton, Guildford, Reading and Northern Ireland.

Darren Braybrook, commercial development manager at Volkswagen Financial Services UK, said: “The UK’s electric car market is in overdrive right now and the rapid acceleration of demand for electromobility is really exciting. However, we haven’t yet reached a critical mass of BEV adoption, where we see the cost of acquiring an electric vehicle come down quickly. Affordability is a key issue that the wider industry is working hard to improve as we know that cost is the primary barrier to EV adoption. That in itself is a positive challenge as it means that consumers are already convinced of the benefits of going green, we just need to help customers have better access to these vehicles.”