UK sales of electric vehicles just overtook petrol cars for the first time
For the first time in the UK, sales of electric vehicles (EVs) overtook those of petrol cars in December 2024, with battery EVs and plug-in hybrids accounting for nearly half of all new car registrations. While overall new car sales in 2024 remained below pre-pandemic levels, the milestone signals a major shift in the market away from internal combustion engine vehicles.
Background
- For the first time in the UK, more new battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) were sold in a single month (December 2024) than petrol-only cars — a symbolic milestone in the shift away from combustion engines.
- The surge is driven by the UK's Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires automakers to sell a rising percentage of zero-emission cars each year or face fines. Manufacturers heavily discounted EVs in December to meet 2024 targets (22% of sales).
- Broader context: the UK bans new petrol/diesel car sales from 2030. The ZEV mandate enforces that through annual quotas (28% in 2025, reaching 100% by 2035).
- Some automakers (Tesla, MG, BMW, VinFast) exceeded targets; others (Toyota, Nissan, VW Group) lagged and had to buy credits from compliant rivals.
- Why it matters: this was not a consumer-driven tipping point — it relied on heavy discounts. The key question is whether demand can keep pace with the higher 2025 target without similar price cuts, and whether charging infrastructure can keep up.