Sales of electric cars set to increase 61 per cent in 2022

Published 04 February 2022

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) is forecasting that sales of all-electric vehicles could reach 307,000 in 2022 - a 61 per cent increase on 2021's 190,727 sales.

Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are also set to rise by 42 per cent to 163,000 (up from 114,554 in 2021).

That means that by the end of the year, almost a quarter of new cars could be either fully electric or plug-in hybrid.

In January 2022, sales of these cars accounted for one in five of the overall 115,087 new cars registered that month (14,433 electric cars were sold and 9,047 PHEVs).

Home Charger

EV demand 'surging' in used car market

There is also growing interest in electric vehicles in the used car market.

Chris Evans, head of sales at HonestJohn.co.uk's sister brand heycar, said that demand for electric vehicles is “surging”.

“We’ve seen views of electric cars up 127 per cent in January compared to the year before while the number of EV leads being sent to dealers has jumped by 74 per cent year on year,” he said.

However, public EV charging infrastucture must be developed "ahead of demand" for electric vehicles, according to the SMMT.

Disabled motoring groups also recently highlighted the need to improve accessibility of charging points and for the development of wireless EV charging alongside cable charging.

New car market to bounce back by 2023

New -car -production -line -2

Overall, the new car market was 27.5 per cent up on January 2021 when sales were affected by Covid-19 lockdown restrictions.

However, the market remains well below pre-pandemic levels, due to the ongoing global shortage of semiconductors, which continues to affect supply.

The SMMT has revised its 2022 new car market forecast downward as a result of the semiconductor shortage, increasing costs of living and rising interest rates, which it expects to “dampen some demand” this year.

It predicts 1.89 million cars will be sold in 2022 (previously it predicted 1.96 million). This is 15.2 per cent more sales than in 2021 but still down by nearly a fifth (17.9 per cent) on pre-pandemic 2019 figures.

By 2023, however, the market is expected to bounce back to more than two million units for the first time since 2019.

What is the semiconductor shortage?

Since 2020 there has been a global shortage of semiconductors chips, which are used in all kinds of electronic devices from PCs to mobile phones, TVs and cars.

In modern cars, semiconductor chips power onboard safety systems, touchscreen infotainment and digital instrument displays.

Car makers that don’t have their own factories capable of producing the chips are having to wait for supply, and are likely to be at the back of the queue, behind the tech giants, leading to long wait times for new vehicles.

How many electric cars were sold in the UK in 2021?

190,727 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were sold in the UK in 2021.

How many plug-in hybrids were sold in the UK in 2021?

There were 114,554 sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) in 2021.

Ask HJ

Are electric cars getting more expensive?

Is the cost of electric cars increasing? It appears from what I've seen that even used electric cars are extremely expensive. As an example, a Hyundai Ioniq 2018 electric with 30,000 miles is £21,000 is this right? Will the cost come down at any point?

All used cars are expensive at the moment. It's a combination of factors – the global microchip shortage means there's a shortage of new cars, while there's also increased demand as people are returning to work and would rather buy a car than sit on a train. Demand for electric cars is particularly high as people are becoming more aware of the benefits of EVs as we head towards 2030. As electric cars get older and more hit the market, prices for used examples will drop.

Answered by Andrew Brady

What's the best electric car with a big boot?

I am ready to change my now 12-year-old BMW 520d Touring for a new car. I have owned my BMW from new and have been delighted with it, but my annual mileage has dropped below 10,000 miles a year following retirement. I am wondering if now is a good time to switch to an EV. I have a budget of £50,000 to spend but the replacement car must have similar boot space to my BMW 5 Series estate. The only car I have found with a comparable boot to date is the Skoda Enyaq. Any there any other EVs I should consider?

The Skoda Enyaq iV sounds like your best option. It's a very practical electric vehicle that represents excellent value for money alongside premium competitors. As an alternative, take a look at the Hyundai Ioniq 5. It's not quite as versatile as the Enyaq, but it's quite a big car which translates into a lot of interior space. You could also look at the Mercedes EQB – although it's pricier and not as practical as the Skoda.

Answered by Andrew Brady

Comments

conman on 7 February 2022

Sales of all-electric vehicles could reach 307,000 in 2022 - pity there are only public 29,000 chargers. Things are going to get interesting when you need to charge your vehicle, although the total number is 29K start deducting those that do not work, those that won't accept your card, those that may have been vandalised and going off some peoples experience on YouTube things could start to get a little frightening. Together with the increase in electric prices. Ionity prices at present are 69p a kWh (July 2020) may rise to around 89p+ a unit a 77kWh battery to charge will cost £68.53p. for a 250 mile range.
Home chargers should be considerably cheaper depending on the rate you can get off your supplier.
Also take into account that some public chargers limit your time to 40 minutes (before the excess charge kicks in to stop you hogging the charger) so if you are on an average charging rate of 50Kw your time limit will only give you 20 kWh increase to your battery, which if your car is averaging 3.5 miles per kWh that equals to only 70 miles.
I will be buying a EV but not till they have made vast improvements to the battery and the charging info structure.
Also on the horizon is the government trying to fill up the £35 billion hole caused by the removal of road tax on EV's which can only be filled by all drivers paying into the kitty one way or another, another con by the government (as in diesel gate).

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