Electric car sales surge but makers call for easier targets

Become an Independent member to bookmark this article Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today. Join today Already a member? Log in Electric car sales have jumped by almost a third, with discounts and finance deals tempting buyers and helping fully electric models claim their biggest share of the UK new car market this year. Almost one in three new cars registered in October was electric, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders ( SMMT ).

Electric car registrations rose 32.7 per cent compared with the same month last year, giving EVs a 32 per cent share of the market. That’s taken the number of new electric cars registered so far in 2026 past the half-million mark to 503,805, up 30.4 per cent on a year earlier. Buyers now have more than 180 fully electric models to choose from, offering an average range of over 300 miles, according to SMMT. The showroom offers range from price cuts and help with deposits to interest-free finance and even subsidised charging or free wall boxes.

SMMT says manufacturers are spending billions on these deals to bring registrations closer to government targets, with further support coming from the government’s Electric Car Grant. open image in gallery The Ford Puma remains Britain's best-selling car for 2026 so far and is available as an EV or with a petrol engine ( Ford ) Even so, electric cars have accounted for 26.6 per cent of registrations across the first ten months of the year.

The SMMT’s latest forecast puts their share at 27.2 per cent for 2026 as a whole, below the 33 per cent target under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate. The rules set rising targets for the proportion of new cars that must be zero-emission. Next year, the SMMT predicts that electric cars will take 32 per cent of the market, against a 38 per cent target ZEV Mandate target. By 2028, it forecasts a 37.5 per cent share against a 52 per cent target.

That would leave a gap of 14.5 percentage points in 2028, more than double the shortfall forecast for this year. The industry wants the government to lower the targets to reflect demand and give manufacturers more flexibility in meeting them. Recommended Jaecoo 8 review – what’s it like living with a ‘wannabe Range Rover’ EV drivers without driveways promised help amid soaring public charging costs Part Aston Martin, part Porsche, part Alfa Romeo – is this the best-looking Chinese car yet?

Peter Crouch puts Chery’s new family SUV to the legroom test Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said, “Almost one in three new cars registered in October was electric – great progress in the transition, but one that comes at enormous cost. The industry and government are spending billions to help drivers switch, but that support cannot be sustained indefinitely with the gap to mandated targets set to more than double by 2028, just as a new EV-only tax is introduced.

“Higher targets may force supply, but they do not create demand. The ZEV Mandate review must deliver substantive reform effective immediately to ensure we have a healthy market and an attractive pitch to investors.” However, not everyone is supporting a change to the ZEV Mandate, with Melanie Lane, CEO at charging company Pod, saying, “Even without a major new push for EVs in the Budget, consumers and businesses are still choosing to go electric.

“Sales are now ahead of the real ZEV sales target, showing that the mandate is working as intended and doesn’t need adjusting. For me, it’s another sign that what really drives the transition is getting the fundamentals right: cost, choice and making electric an easy decision for drivers. The last thing the market needs now is another shifting of the regulatory goalposts, when the current framework is clearly creating the right conditions to make the switch.” open image in gallery Mike Hawes is chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (PA) ( PA Archive ) SMMT also wants long-term certainty over grants and other support, alongside cheaper, more accessible public charging.

It warns that heavy discounting can squeeze manufacturers’ profits and lower trade-in values, leaving existing owners with less equity as part of their finance deals to put towards their next car. Manufacturers have reportedly committed £14.3 billion to UK electric vehicle manufacturing since 2020. The SMMT says they need to make a return on those investments to fund future models and jobs. Across the wider market, a total of 152,730 new cars were registered in October – up 5.4 per cent and marking the 11th consecutive month of growth.

Fully electric cars and plug-in hybrids accounted for all of that increase. Plug-in hybrid registrations rose 30.1 per cent to take 15 per cent of the market, while sales of hybrids without a plug fell five per cent. Together, the three groups accounted for 59 per cent of new registrations. Fleet buyers remained the biggest customers, taking 58.9 per cent of the market. Private registrations also rose, up 4.1 per cent to 58,229 cars.