The latest round of statistics detailing the UK’s ‘parc’ of vehicles has revealed there are now 42.55m cars, vans, trucks and buses in the UK, with just 1.9m of those (0.8%) being zero emission.
Very few electric vans, trucks and buses exist, with 1.8m of the 1.9 EVs in the UK being cars. Roughly 4.5% of all vehicles are ‘electrified’, though, meaning either pure EV or hybrid.
The dataset, compiled by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, details that the UK now has more vehicles on the road than ever before, with 36.68m cars mingling with 5.18m vans, 626,566 HGVs, and 71,300 buses.
The number of cars has risen by over half a million in the last year, a 1.4% increase, while van and truck numbers rose by the same proportion.
Our cars are getting older, too, with the average age of the vehicles standing at 9.7 years, up from 9.4 in 2024. Some 45.7% of cars are now a 10 or more years old, with this shift ascribed to cost-of-living pressures.
Commenting on the figures, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, says: “Britain’s vehicle parc is growing with record numbers of newer zero emission vehicles on our roads driving environmental, economic and safety benefits.
“This is grounds for celebration but the pace has to quicken if ambition is to match demand with the average age of vehicles on our roads actually rising. A holistic review of the UK’s ZEV transition is essential, therefore, to ensure that every business and consumer can make the switch so that we can deliver net zero by 2050.”
