Nearly one in five new cars last month were fully electric, according to the latest registration figures.
At 18.8%, the proportion of EV registrations is the highest ever recorded, and accounts for 21,726 cars. Including plug-in hybrid cars, more than a quarter (28.1% or 32,522) of cars registered are capable of driving on electric power alone. In total 115,705 cars were registered in November.
However, the figures have raised concern at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which represents the car makers. It highlighted that charging infrastructure isn't keeping pace with consumer intent.
"The continued acceleration of electrified vehicle registrations is good for the industry, the consumer and the environment but, with the pace of public charging infrastructure struggling to keep up, we need swift action and binding public charger targets so that everyone can be part of the electric vehicle revolution, irrespective of where they live," said Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT.
The SMMT says that Britain’s ratio of plug-in vehicles on the road to standard public chargers is 16:1 - one of the worst among the top 10 global electric vehicle markets at the end of 2020.
With plug-in vehicle uptake having grown by 86.6% in 2021, SMMT it is calling on the government to take action to avoid the ratio deteriorating further by boosting the provision of public charging points through the imposition of binding targets.
The most registered car with an electric variant in November was the Mini, which took the top slot overall, followed by the Vauxhall Corsa in second. However the highest-placed pure electric car was the Tesla Model 3 in third. The Corsa currently heads the most registered list with one month to run of 2021.
Plug-in car registrations continue to eclipse those of diesel in 2021 too. In total 130,572 diesel cars have been registered this year, a fall of 46.9%, compared to 163,022 electric cars (up 83.1%) and 106,218 plug-in hybrid cars (up 83.1%).
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