Electric vehicle sales surge triggered by fuel crisis
New figures from the Department for Transport reveal a 12% uptick in new electric vehicle sales.
It has reported 769,000 vehicles registered for the first time between January and March of this year, an increase of 5.1% on the same period in 2025.
Of these, 150,000 were electric, which represents a 12.9% rise on the same three-month period last year.
Meanwhile, by the end of March there were 42.4 million vehicles on UK roads, an annual rise of just 1.3%, but zero emission figures surged by 29.6% to 2.148 million.
This comes as petrol and diesel prices continue to rise, averaging 151.4p and 165.2p respectively.
Onward march
Jack Cousens, head of roads policy at The AA, said: “The latest quarterly update of licensed vehicle numbers shows the onward march of electric vehicles, spurred on initially by the pump-price shock earlier this year and then the enduring trauma of the petrol and diesel cost rollercoaster.
“This year, car owners who can afford to switch to electric cars have said ‘enough is enough’ and converted to power from the grid over petrol from the forecourt.
“The AA EV Readiness Index showed that even those with less money available have been looking at ways to switch more cheaply: searches on AA Cars for used EVs have increased 78% in the last three months compared to the previous three months.”
