Sales of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) in the UK have grown strongly, although they still only account for 1% of all new vehicles registrations, according to the latest report released by the Department for Transport.

In the first quarter of 2016, 11,755 ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) were registered in the UK. These figures are an increase of 31% compared with last year when ULEVs were accounting for 0.8% of all new registrations, and they were up 508% compared with 2014 when their new vehicles share was only 0.2%.

Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), which represents franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the UK, said: “Ultra-low emission vehicles have shown a solid and steady growth and this positive trend is set to continue.

“In January to March 2016, most of newly registered ULEVs - 11,243 cars and 262 vans - were eligible for grants offered by the Government. We are pleased to see that efforts made by the Government are facilitating the shift to modern transportation.

“The e-commerce boom will support in particular the growth of plug-in vans and thanks to this we expect the market to continue to rise.”