December’s car sales list caps off an astonishing year for electric cars. With 9,612 Tesla Model 3s leaving showrooms before Christmas, the hyper-popular American EV outsold the second-place Mini by almost 5000 units, making it the best-selling car of the month for the third time last year.
“A quarter of all the cars sold in December were fuelled by electricity,” says Nick Zapolski, of car buying specialists ChooseMyCar.com. “That’s a stunning statistic! Add in plug-in hybrids and a THIRD of cars sold last month had a plug socket.”
It’s a far cry from the start of the electric car revolution. Back in 2011 the best-selling electric car in the UK was the Nissan Leaf, which sold just 635 units in the entire year. In contrast, nearly 191,000 pure electric cars were sold in the UK in 2021, giving the segment nearly 12% of the market vs. just 8% for Diesel.
“A decade ago, the idea of an electric car being a bestseller in the UK was laughable,” continues Nick. “Now it’s happening frequently. We’re seeing similar demand on the used market, with searches for Teslas and Kia EVs through the roof right now.”
Some analysts are concerned that the growth of rapid charging infrastructure is struggling to keep pace. According to data from ZapMap, the UKs most-used recharging app, charging infrastructure grew by nearly a third last year while sales of EVs were up 70%.
“Many of the charge points that were put in in the very early days have fallen into disrepair and that needs sorting out,” says Nick. “The demand is there to use them but we’re still a way away from rocking up at a charger and being 100% certain it’ll be working.”
In June, energy firm Gridserve bought the ageing Electric Highway network from Ecotricity and began an extensive replacement and expansion project, with chargers capable of filling some EVs to 80% in as little as 18 minutes. It’s hoped that hub of chargers like these will become commonplace in the next few years, and new “electric forecourts” are currently under construction in Norwich and at Gatwick airport.
“40% of models now have a plug,” finishes Nick. “The infrastructure needs to race to keep up but I’m confident it’ll get there.”
