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Electric car sales rise but finding charging points is a postcode lottery

The number of new battery powered cars sold in the UK tripled during October – but finding charging points for them remains “a postcode lottery”.

Government figures reveal that where you live plays a major part in how easy or not it is to recharge your vehicle.

This comes as latest figures by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that one in 10 of the vehicles leaving forecourts in October was either hybrid or electric.

The SMMT says economic and political uncertainty has had an impact on car sales, with new registrations plunging by 6.7 per cent in October, compared with the same month last year.

The rise in “alternatively fuelled” vehicles was mainly driven by hybrids with their sales increasing by almost a third, to 7,950, representing 5.5 per cent of the market.

Market share for electric cars in October increased year on year to 2.3 per cent with 3,162 vehicles sold.

Chief executive of the SMMT Mike Hawes said the growth in alternatively fuelled cars was “very welcome, showing increasing buyer appetite for these new technologies.”

He added that the overall market “remains tough, however, with October now the year’s eighth month of decline.” He suggested the market needed an injection of confidence.

Overall 143,251 vehicles were sold last month compared with 153,599 in October 2018 a fall of 6.7 per cent, with diesel vehicle sales falling a third to 34,666, or 25 per cent of all sales.

While the increase in electric and hybrid was welcomed by the SMMT, separate Government league tables have revealed a “postcode lottery” in the availability of charging points.

When measured country by country, Scotland leads the way with 32 charging points per 100,000 people, followed by England on 22, Wales on 17 and Northern Ireland on 16.

On a regional basis, London fares best on 49 per 100,000 people, followed by the North East on 32, and the South East on 28.

Yorkshire and Humber limp in at 12 charging points per 100,00 people.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps, said: “Your postcode should play no part in how easy it is to use an electric car, and I’m determined electric vehicles become the new normal for drivers.”

As part of that drive, the Government announced this autumn that drivers of electric cars could soon be using green number plates. The idea is to pave the way for local authorities to introduce incentives such as cheaper parking for zero emission vehicles.

The move has received a cautious response from the RAC.

Head of roads policy Nicholas Lyes said he felt that the “sentiment” behind green plates seemed right, but he questioned whether the move would foster resentment among existing drivers of petrol or diesel vehicles.

He suggested motorists who could afford the relatively high upfront cost of switching to electric could benefit from any incentives but the “vast majority” who still rely on petrol and diesel may lose out.

Mr Lyes said the RAC continued to believe that the Government needed to offer the right incentives at the point of purchase and needed to provide better infrastructure to encourage drivers to go electric.

Go to http://maps.dft.gov.uk/ev-charging-map/ for the Government’s map of charging point availability across the UK.

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Electric car sales rise but finding charging points is a postcode lottery