U.K. Now Has 2 Million Electric Cars on the Roads as Registrations Surge

The latest data from the SMMT shows the U.K. has reached two million electric cars registered on U.K. roads, plus a buoyant April for new car registrations and the best sellers are revealed.

The UK new car market grew by 24.0% to reach 149,247 registrations in April reversing trends over previous months and its best April since 2019, according to the latest figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 

Battery Electric Vehicle Milestone

A significant milestone has been reached with 2 million registered EV’s on U.K. roads. What’s notable is the U.K. surpassed 1 million EVs in January 2024, 13 years after the first mass produced electric car hit the roads with the Nissan Leaf in 2011, and 22 years since records began for EV sales.

The indication now is exponential growth with a doubling of numbers happening in quicker succession. However, The latest industry outlook reflects weaker “expectations” for EV demand in the short term with BEV share downgraded to 26.8%, from 28.5%, following an underperforming first quarter. 

The SMMT states “Looking ahead, the 2027 market is anticipated to reach 2.121 million units, 32.0% of them BEVs – leaving a persistent gap of around six percentage points against the mandate target.” It explained “the Iran conflict adds further uncertainty, the full impact of which is yet to be seen, with rising interest in EVs potentially tempered by concern over inflation, higher energy prices and the resultant negative impact on the cost of living.”

New Car Registrations

The SMMT has published its new car registrations data representing sales and registration by fuel type for April 2026.

Notable findings indicate that for the second month petrol and diesel registrations combined make up less than 50% market share, with electric and electrified cars making up the majority new car registrations.

It highlights a significant shift in fuel choice that customers now have with many more electric cars, hybrid cars and plug-in hybrid cars coming to market in recent months.

Petrol Cars
Despite a slight uptick in petrol sales of 8.2% over April 2025 numbers, overall market share declined from 48.8% to 42.6% year-on-year which is a significant shift in one year.

Diesel Car registrations continue to decline in perpetuity as fewer diesel car options are on sale thanks largely to tougher emissions standard, and an increase in compelling electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid options coming to market in the last year, in particular from Chinese manufacturers.

Battery Electric Cars continued to grow significantly taking 26.2% market share vs 20.4% last year - a massive 59.1% increase. However, this still falls short of the ZEV Mandate of 33% so manufacturers must carefully calculate their off-sets (known as flexibilities) to ensure they don’t receive large fines, or they may find themselves having to push EV sales in H2 2026.

Plug-in Hybrids also stormed ahead increasing the market share by 46.4% to 13.8%, up from 11.7% last year. With some plug-in hybrids achieving over 80 miles of all electric range, its significantly reducing running costs for customers who can plug in regularly.

Hybrid sales show a decline in market share by 0.6% despite increasing volumes from 16,586 in April 2025 to 19,711 in April 2026.

New car registrations year-on-year and year-to-date by fuel type

Best Sellers

Last month we reported that the Jaecoo 7 had taken the crown from Ford’s Puma as the best selling car in March 2026, just months after launching. But, its the Ford Puma that has stolen back the crown surging ahead and taking the number one position in the sales charts.

Former leader, Jaecoo has fallen back to 10th position, which is still a huge achievement for a car that has only been on sale since the autumn last year.

And Britain’s favourite family car, the Kia Sportage takes second prize leading the Nissan Qashqai into 3rd place.

For practical hatchbacks, Volkswagen leads with the Golf in 4th place and the MINI following closely behind.

There are three Chinese brands in the top 10 for April car registrations highlighting changing tastes and a desire to seek value.

Year-to-date registrations replicate April 2026, but with that Jaecoo 7 taking 3rd spot. The Volkswagen Golf slides to 6th place beaten by the Nissan Qashqai and Vauxhall Corsa.

April 2026 Top Selling Models

Buyer Trends

Private Buyers have surged making up 56,116 units sold compared to 46,671 a year ago, although market share decreased by 1.2% to 37.6%.

Fleet buyers - those that operate a fleet of 25 or more vehicles - saw a huge jump in demand for cars from 71,340 in April 2025 to 90,462 last month taking up 60.6% market share.

Business buyers also saw growth jumping from 2,320 a year ago to 2.669 new car registrations.

There is no breakdown of fuel type under this category, but it illustrates demand for new cars has surged when compared to last year. It’s further supported by the year-to-date numbers that highlights a significant increase in volumes across all three categories as private buyers jump ahead to 40.1% market share. Fleet sales show a slight decline of 1.2% market share, but with greater volumes. Business remaining fairly stable creeping up to 2.2% market share.

April 2026 Sales by Buyer Type

———

About the Author

Graeme Cobb is a lifelong car enthusiast with a passion for writing about cars, EVs, industry updates and more.

You can find Graeme on 𝕏 at @graeme_cobb or YouTube @REV-EV.