Sales of electric cars pass half a million in UK

The number of electric cars sold in the UK has passed half a million, according to analysis that underlines the rapid growth in demand despite supply chain problems caused by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The UK reached the milestone in June, and the number of electric cars in the country is likely to overtake that in France later this year, according to Matthias Schmidt, a Berlin-based automotive analyst.

The number of electric cars on the UK’s roads has soared from fewer than 100,000 in 2019 as carmakers have started to produce them in large volumes to meet tightening regulations on carbon dioxide emissions and impending bans on petrol and diesel cars that will come in by 2035 in the UK and EU.

The figures mean that pure electric cars account for about 1.2% of the 40.5m cars on British roads, but that share is expected to rise rapidly as manufacturers launch new models. UK electric car production in May was twice what it was a year earlier, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders lobby group.

A fifth of the electric cars on British roads were made by Tesla, the US electric car firm run by Elon Musk.