More electric cars were bought in March 2026 than in any previous month, but this record wasn’t enough to nudge registrations close to mandated levels.
Some 86,120 of the 380,627 cars registered last month were electric. This is equivalent to 22.4% of the market, some way off the ZEV (zero emission vehicle) mandate set by the government, which requires 33% of new cars sold in 2026 to run on batteries alone.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which compiled the data, is seeking a government review of mandate percentages, and says that “conditions have diverged sharply from those assumed when the mandate was set”, adding car makers are “forced to shoulder unsustainable costs to comply with the regulation when natural demand lags ambition”.
Hybrids – including conventional ones and those that can be plugged in –comprised 28.8% of last month’s market, with petrol cars taking a 43.6% share and diesels just 4.9%.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, commented: “Much of March’s performance will be from orders placed before the start of the Iran conflict, which threatens to raise the cost of living, undermining consumer confidence. Against this backdrop, and with the EV market falling further away from mandated levels”.
