EV Discussion thread

JKenH

I thought it would be interesting to compare yesterday’s stats for EV registrations (left) with today’s. These stats are 2 or 3 days old and the latest figures represent what is probably the end of the month. Tesla’s registrations have gone up by 341 and Mercedes by 359 but VW are up by 1624, Peugeot 1465 and Vauxhall an amazing 1924. In Vauxhall’s case in one day they increased the cars registered this year by 50%. Now, excuse my scepticism but does anyone really believe they actually sold 1924 cars in one day having only sold 3871 in the previous 89 days? I think we are going to see a whole lot of pre-registered cars appearing on Autotrader over the next few months as these are drip fed into the secondhand market at heavily discounted prices. 

I suggest we take tomorrow’s “record EV sales” announcement from the SMMT with a pinch of salt.

paul991

good thats the time to buy them

Reed_Richards

paul991 said:

good thats the to buy them

Rearrange these words to  make a meaningful sentence? 

JKenH

paul991 said:

good thats the to buy them

Indeed. There are 25 plate electric Corsa listed on Autotrader from £16,990. That’s a 43% discount. I am sorely tempted. There is also a 2025 Dacia Spring available for £10,995 if you just want a local runabout.

JKenH

Best March for new car registrations since 2019 as EVs soar, latest data shows

Registrations of battery electric vehicle unsurprisingly rose by 43.2% as manufacturers slashed prices and incentivised customers, while hybrids were up 27.7% and PHEVs rose by 37.9%.

Battery EVs snatched a 19.4% market share, but the SMMT countered this by stating that the figure is some eight percentage points behind the ZEV Mandate target for this year, and the market share figure would have been artificially affected by customers racing to beat the VED hike on EVs from April 1.

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/best-march-for-new-car-registrations-since-2019-as-evs-soar-latest-data-shows/314143

I am surprised the BEV sales share wasn’t higher given my earlier comments about preregistration plus the incentive of beating the VED and expensive car supplement which came in from 1 April for BEVs. In February BEVs took more than a quarter of the market. I suspect SMMT were expecting more as when reporting the very strong February BEV performance they had said:

Next month is likely to see a further surge in EV uptake, as buyers capitalise on the new ’25 plate and take their last chance to avoid the punitive ECS which, from 1 April will add £2,125 over six years to the cost of BEVs with a list price above £40,000.1 Relative to the rest of the market, BEVs are disproportionately affected as higher production costs meaning the average BEV retails above the ECS threshold, a threshold which remains unchanged since its introduction in 2017.

michaels

JKenH said:

I thought it would be interesting to compare yesterday’s stats for EV registrations (left) with today’s. These stats are 2 or 3 days old and the latest figures represent what is probably the end of the month. Tesla’s registrations have gone up by 341 and Mercedes by 359 but VW are up by 1624, Peugeot 1465 and Vauxhall an amazing 1924. In Vauxhall’s case in one day they increased the cars registered this year by 50%. Now, excuse my scepticism but does anyone really believe they actually sold 1924 cars in one day having only sold 3871 in the previous 89 days? I think we are going to see a whole lot of pre-registered cars appearing on Autotrader over the next few months as these are drip fed into the secondhand market at heavily discounted prices. 

I suggest we take tomorrow’s “record EV sales” announcement from the SMMT with a pinch of salt.

I noticed the anomalous Mar 31st figure too and assumed it was the normal dealer pre reg to meet quarterly manufacturer targets.  Do you know if ICE cars show the same sort of pattern this time - historically they always used to do this.

For cars over 40k it would also seem like a no brainer to have a stock of prereg that you would be able to sell on the back of them not having the luxury car supplement.

JKenH

michaels said:

JKenH said:

I thought it would be interesting to compare yesterday’s stats for EV registrations (left) with today’s. These stats are 2 or 3 days old and the latest figures represent what is probably the end of the month. Tesla’s registrations have gone up by 341 and Mercedes by 359 but VW are up by 1624, Peugeot 1465 and Vauxhall an amazing 1924. In Vauxhall’s case in one day they increased the cars registered this year by 50%. Now, excuse my scepticism but does anyone really believe they actually sold 1924 cars in one day having only sold 3871 in the previous 89 days? I think we are going to see a whole lot of pre-registered cars appearing on Autotrader over the next few months as these are drip fed into the secondhand market at heavily discounted prices. 

I suggest we take tomorrow’s “record EV sales” announcement from the SMMT with a pinch of salt.

I noticed the anomalous Mar 31st figure too and assumed it was the normal dealer pre reg to meet quarterly manufacturer targets.  Do you know if ICE cars show the same sort of pattern this time - historically they always used to do this.

For cars over 40k it would also seem like a no brainer to have a stock of prereg that you would be able to sell on the back of them not having the luxury car supplement.

Someone thinks so.

Thom Groot, the chief executive of the Electric Car Scheme, claimed that demand had “never been stronger for EVs” and suggested that petrol car sales had been artificially buoyed by dealerships wanting to dump stock before higher taxes came into effect.

“It is more likely the last kick of the internal combustion engine market than a reversal of the steady trend toward 100pc EV sales,” he added.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/04/04/keir-starmer-to-rush-through-electric-car-rules/

Sorry, I don’t have that data but there are a lot of 2025 ICE cars on Autotrader. Here is the breakdown by fuel type. Unfortunately this is only helpful in terms of vehicles listed for sale. There may be others in dealer compounds or elsewhere. 

JKenH

Government confirms hybrids to be sold until 2035 while ZEV Mandate fines slashed

Hybrid cars WILL be allowed to be sold until 2035, the government has announced, as part of a package of changes that also includes a reduction in ZEV Mandate fines.

The government’s two-month-long consultation into the ban of the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2030 has confirmed this date will stay, but has also given clarity over hybrid cars.

Full-hybrids such as the Toyota Prius, plug-in hybrids like the Ford Kuga PHEV, as well as Nissan’s innovative e-Power system in its Qashqai SUV, will be allowed to be sold between 2030 and 2035.

To support micro and smaller car manufacturers such McLaren, Aston Martin, Bentley, Lotus and Caterham, these firms will be exempt from the 2030-2035 hybrid requirements, with small volume manufacturers (as opposed to micro volume manufacturers) being required to meet a ‘nominal’ reduction in CO2 across their fleets after 2030 ‘which will be agreed with them’.

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/government-confirms-hybrids-to-be-sold-until-2035-while-zev-mandate-fines-slashed/314159

michaels

Slashed from 15k down to....12k

JKenH

michaels said:

JKenH said:

I thought it would be interesting to compare yesterday’s stats for EV registrations (left) with today’s. These stats are 2 or 3 days old and the latest figures represent what is probably the end of the month. Tesla’s registrations have gone up by 341 and Mercedes by 359 but VW are up by 1624, Peugeot 1465 and Vauxhall an amazing 1924. In Vauxhall’s case in one day they increased the cars registered this year by 50%. Now, excuse my scepticism but does anyone really believe they actually sold 1924 cars in one day having only sold 3871 in the previous 89 days? I think we are going to see a whole lot of pre-registered cars appearing on Autotrader over the next few months as these are drip fed into the secondhand market at heavily discounted prices. 

I suggest we take tomorrow’s “record EV sales” announcement from the SMMT with a pinch of salt.

I noticed the anomalous Mar 31st figure too and assumed it was the normal dealer pre reg to meet quarterly manufacturer targets.  Do you know if ICE cars show the same sort of pattern this time - historically they always used to do this.

For cars over 40k it would also seem like a no brainer to have a stock of prereg that you would be able to sell on the back of them not having the luxury car supplement.

It would but Vauxhall now price all their EVs below £40k.

All Vauxhall EVs now priced under £40k to save on VED

All Vauxhall electric cars are now priced below £40,000 to save customers the significant additional expense of the new supplement that comes into effect from today (1 April).

https://fleetworld.co.uk/all-vauxhall-evs-now-priced-under-40k-to-save-on-ved/