EV sales hit record in UK but still behind target


By AFP
January 3, 2025


Just less than one in five new cars sold in Britain last year was an EV, a record market share but less than the government's 22 percent target - Copyright AFP/File Tolga Akmen

UK car industry sold a record number of all-electric vehicles in 2024 but still fell short of the government’s mandated targets, an industry trade body said Saturday.

Battery electric vehicles made up 19.6 percent of new cars sold last year, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which was below the government’s 22-percent target for carmakers.

The SMMT reported a “record annual volume” of 382,000 battery electric vehicles sold in the UK last year.

The automobile trade body had already warned in October that carmakers were at risk of missing government targets, with manufacturers facing government penalties of £15,000 ($18,625) per polluting vehicle sold above the limits.

However, the government has since assured that it expects all manufacturers to avoid the penalties in 2024 by taking advantage of flexibility mechanisms which will take into account, among other things, emissions reductions across the whole fleet.

The group’s chief executive, Mike Hawes, said that while the market share of electric vehicles grew, this came at a “huge cost” to the industry.

He referred to the “billions invested in new models” supplemented by “unsustainable” incentives provided by the industry.

Hawes urged the government to review the mandate and to do more to stimulate private demand, including improving charging infrastructure.

The SMMT also warned that reaching the thresholds in 2025 will be “even more intense” with the mandates pushed up to 28 percent of cars sold.

There are also concerns over the Labour government’s pledge to bring forward the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles to 2030, after the previous Conservative government pushed it back to 2035.

Overall, the SMMT reported that the number of new vehicles registered in the UK increased to almost 2 million, up by 2.6 percent year-on-year.

It said that growth was mainly driven by business purchases as demand from private buyers dropped.

Despite a second successive year of growth, the overall car market remains below pre-pandemic levels.



Electric cars took 89% of Norway market in 2024


By AFP
January 2, 2025

Thanks to government incentives, electric cars have surged in Oslo and across Norway - Copyright AFP Philip FONG

Electric cars accounted for 89 percent of the new cars sold in Norway last year, a report said Thursday, pushing the country closer to reaching its goal of going fully electric by 2025.

“We need only 10 percent more to reach the objective for 2025,” the Norwegian Road Federation (OFV) said in a statement.

Of the 128,691 new car registrations last year, 114,400 were electric, the highest share of any major national car market and up from an 82-percent share in 2023.

Despite being a major oil and gas producer, Norway aims for all new cars sold to be “zero emission” starting in 2025, which is 10 years ahead of the goal set by the European Union, of which Norway is not a member.

In 2012, electric cars accounted for just 2.8 percent of sales, but they have since exploded thanks to various incentives.

Electric cars were exempted from many taxes, making them competitive against heavily taxed internal combustion cars. They have also benefitted from toll exemptions, free parking in public car parks, and the use of public transport traffic lanes.

While some tax breaks and incentives have been rolled back over the years, electric cars have become commonplace.

“It is crucial to maintain the incentives that favour the purchase of electric cars if the government and parliament are to achieve the goal they themselves set,” Oyvind Solberg Thorsen, director of OFV, said in a press release.

Tesla is the leading electric car company in Norway, with 19 percent of the market, followed by Volkswagen, Toyota, Volvo and BMW.

“In 2025, it will be interesting to see whether new Chinese brands and models will manage to strengthen their position among buyers,” said Thorsen.