The 2.02m new cars that found homes in 2025 may have cemented the UK’s position as the second-largest automotive market in Europe, but the year’s official registration figures have also revealed that car makers failed to meet the government mandate for EV registrations.
Some 473,348 EVs cars were registered in 2025 and while this was up from 381,970 in 2024, the 23.4% market share that EVs enjoyed last year was well short of the 28% proportion that the UK government tasked car makers with shifting, a proportion now stands at 33% for 2026.
The market for electric vans was similarly off-target, with 30,168 battery-powered vehicles registered in 2025 – a 9.5% market share, against a target of 16%.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which compiled the figures, says car makers applied over £5bn of discounts to electric cars last year – equivalent to £11,000 for every EV sold, and a practice the organisation says is “unsustainable”
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said that while the new-car market “finally reaching two million registrations for the first time this decade”, EV uptake “is still too slow and the cost to industry too high”.
Hawes urged the government to “act urgently to deliver a vibrant market, a sustainable industry and an investment proposition that keeps the UK at the forefront of global competition”
