Car manufacturers have called for urgent action to reignite the switch to electric vehicles, after sales figures showed slowing demand among ordinary motorists for battery-powered cars.
While overall UK registrations grew by 1% in April year-on-year to 134,000, the increase was caused by fleet sales, with private buyer sales down by almost 18% on last year.
Manufacturers are alarmed by slowing sales growth in battery electric vehicles, which in the first four months of 2024 have only increased market share by 0.3% from the same period in 2023, to 15.7%, despite the rapid take-up in previous years.
While the industry expects the figure to improve this year, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that BEV sales would be below government targets of 22% of all new cars, and called for steps to “re-enthuse” buyers, including tax cuts, incentives and more chargers.>
This is essentially it. The surge in demand probably came from company cars and those who can afford to buy expensive cars, but now that demand has been met then sales have dropped off. We’re not yet in the market to replace our car but I do keep an eye on things, and every time I look at a new EV, they’re like 30 or 40k over what I’d be willing to pay.
I imagine it’s an issue of economies of scale, they’re more expensive because they’re producing less than ICE vehicles; the only way to get them cheaper would be for some heavy government subsidies.