The passenger car market in the UK finally noted some year-over-year increase, after several months of decline. In November, 115,706 new cars were registered (up 1.7% year-over-year, but still down by a third compared to the pre-pandemic average).

On the other hand, plug-in car sales are growing fast. In November, some 32,522 units were registered (up 80% year-over-year), which is 28.1% of the total market (a new record, if we exclude the one-off, lockdown-affected April 2020).

Most of the plug-in sales are all-electric cars and they are also growing much faster than plug-in hybrids - by 110% in November.

Plug-in electric car registrations in the UK – November 2021

  • BEVs: 21,726 (up 110% year-over-year) at market share of 18.8%
  • PHEVs: 10,796 (up 40% year-over-year) at market share of 9.3%
  • Total: 32,522 (up 80% year-over-year) at market share of 28.1%
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So far this year, more than 269,000 new passenger plug-in cars were registered in the UK, reaching an average market share of 17.5%.

Sales YTD:

  • BEVs: 163,022 (up 89% year-over-year) - market share of 10.6%
  • PHEVs: 106,218 (up 83% year-over-year)- market share of 6.9%
  • Total: 269,240 (up 87% year-over-year) - market share of 17.5%
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More details, including also other types:

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The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) notes that the expansion of the plug-in cars requires more investment in the charging infrastructure, which is lagging behind:

"Despite this uptake in demand for plug-in vehicles, new SMMT analysis this month revealed that the pace of on-street public charging infrastructure rollout is lagging, with the number of plug-in cars potentially sharing a public on-street charger deteriorating from 11 to 16 between 2019 and 20202 and just one standard on-street public charger installed for every 52 new plug-in cars registered over the course of this year. 3

Britain’s ratio of plug-in vehicles on the road to standard public chargers (16:1) was one of the worst among the top 10 global electric vehicle markets at the end of 2020. With plug-in vehicle uptake having grown by 86.6% in 2021, SMMT is calling on the government to take action to avoid the ratio deteriorating further, by boosting the provision of public charging points through the imposition of binding targets."

Top models

The Tesla Model 3 has appeared in the top 10 list for the month at #3 with 3,077 new registrations.

We assume that the total Tesla Model 3 registrations so far this year exceed 22,009 (6,585 in March (#4), 5,468 in June (#1), 6,879 in Septemer (#1) and 3,077 in November (#3). It must be pretty close to the top 10 year-to-date.

Update: Kia reports that the Kia Niro EV (e-Niro) was the second most popular BEV both in November (1,261) and YTD (11,701). Kia brand was also #2 in terms of BEV sales in November (1,695) and is third best YTD (13,580).

We guess that the Vauxhall Corsa (#2) and MG ZS (#6) in November also include some noticeable EV share.

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