The Lack Of EVs In The SMMT Best Sellers (August 2020) List, Is A Reminder That EV Mass-Scale Adoption Is Still At Very Early Stages!
Electric Cars: The Basics
For those of you new to zero-emission electric driving, we recommend a read of the following articles:
- Types Of Electric Vehicles: A Short Guide
- Should I Buy An Electric Car In 2021?
- Top 20 Jargons Used In The Electric Vehicle Industry!
- UK Plug-In Electric Car Grant 2021
- What Is The Difference Between Conventional Hybrids and Plug-In Hybrids?
- Electric Car Home Charging OLEV EVHS Grant
- Best Electric Cars 2021
- Electric Cars Range: What Is WLTP?
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Before moving onto the latest results i.e. the August 2020 new car registration update, let us briefly remind ourselves of the July 2020 registrations update.
July 2020 witnessed a continued increase in the registration of battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), despite a continued slowdown in the sales of petrol and diesel internal combustion engine (ICE) cars. Petrol new car registrations were up by just 0.3% in July 2020, compared to July 2019. Diesel performed worse, with a 25.9% decline. Diesel market share decreased from 24.7% to 16.5% in July 2020, compared to July 2019. Petrol market share declined from 64.3% to 58% in the same period.
BEV market share increased from 1.4% in July 2019 to 4.7% in July 2020. PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) also witnessed a similar increase from 1.1% in July 2019 to 4.3% in July 2020.
The August 2020 new car registrations update from The Society of Motor traders and Manufacturers (SMMT), is a continuation of the trend so far witnessed in 2020 i.e. diesel cars further declining in market share between August 2019 to August 2020 from 25.5% to 16.4%.
The same is the trend with petrol cars, witnessing a decline from 62.5% to 56.6% between August 2019 to August 2020. In terms of registrations, diesel registrations have declined by 39.5% in August 2020 compared to August 2019, with petrol registrations decreasing 14.7% in August 2020.
Year-to-date the overall sector continues to face a challenging trading environment, with new car registrations down 39.7%. Despite the continued increase of sales of electric vehicles, absolute volumes remain small, with BEV and PHEV combined, new EV car sales are still below the 10% market share threshold.
Also, the lack of BEVs and PHEVs on the SMMT August 2020 Best Sellers list, is a firm reminder that the despite all the progress, the adoption of electric vehicles is still at a nascent stage.
This week celebrates the inaugural World EV Day, a day of not only celebration, but also a day of reflection, on what has been achieved to date, and what needs to be done, to enable mass-scale adoption of zero tailpipe emission electric cars.
