UK Takes Over As Europe’s Second Largest Electric Car Market!

Many automobile companies all over the world today are adapting towards more sustainable changes in order to lessen their contribution to global warming, air pollution and so on. Due to the higher demands of vehicles with zero exhaust emissions, the UK has now overtaken France in becoming Europe’s second largest electric car market within the first quarter of the year. 

According to an analysis by an independent automotive analyst Matthias Schmidt, around 31,800 battery electric vehicles were sold in the UK just within the first three months of the year. Meanwhile, France only managed to sell 30,500. 

According to industry data, battery electrics made up 7.5 percent of UK sales within the first three months of the year. 

Even though the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing, over half a million electric cars were purchased in the year 2020, a first for the European market. However, sales are expected to double to one million this year. 

Following that, with 64,700 cars sold in the first quarter, Germany makes the biggest single market for battery electric vehicles in Europe. In order to aid the auto industry, their performance was helped in part by generous subsidies, as well as doubled by the German government in June. 

Besides that, in acknowledgement to generous subsidies, Norway became the first country in the world to sell more electric cars than fossil fuel cars in the year 2020. 

“The UK is likely to remain the number two European BEV (battery electric vehicle) market this year, albeit a long way behind market leader Germany, which manufacturers are relying on to meet European-wide targets thanks to the generous incentives on offer there,” said Schmidt. 

He also added that manufacturers will be required to increase their sales of plug-in cars in the UK further in a “make-or-break year” in order to obey the new, post-Brexit, emissions limits.  

“There has already been evidence of manufacturers trying to push lower-emitting models in the UK,” he mentioned. 

Other than that, German premium carmaker BMW also lowered the price of its electric i3 at the end of March 2021 in order to meet a lower bar for government subsidies. 

Despite the success of battery electric vehicles in the UK, drivers are concerned that the charging network may not be up to the task. In a survey about British drivers by YouGov, authorised by CTEK (an electric car charger company), it was found that 78 percent of users think that the charging infrastructure is not yet adequate as compared with 65 percent in other European countries that have been surveyed. 

Not forgetting that the survey also found (in line with other reports) that the main reason preventing more people from purchasing electric cars was the relatively higher sticker price of the cars. Despite that, because of higher demands, prices are expected to drop to rival fossil fuel cars.