The used EV market is showing signs of decline, according to recent data from Marketcheck, with sales slipping while petrol vehicle sales achieved a yearly peak.
While petrol car sales jumped from 175,897 in May to 190,320 in October, used EV sales saw a marked 11% drop in just two months, with concerns mounting around charging infrastructure, cost, and the impact of tightening household budgets.
Alastair Campbell, Marketcheck UK, commented: “This is the first statistically significant drop in the sales of used EVs we have recorded. Alongside the more positive petrol figures, it may suggest a shift in consumer confidence back towards ICE vehicles.
“All indications pointed towards a continued rise in the used EV market, so to see a 11% drop in sales over two months is a surprise. Uncertainty following the Election, and ahead of the-then upcoming Budget, likely contributed.”
The fall in used EV sales occurs as the government faces increasing pressure from car makers like Nissan to reconsider its strict EV mandate on new car sales.
The mandate, requiring an escalating percentage of sales to be electric until 100% are required by 2035, with car makers failing to meet the 2024 target of 22% EV sales facing steep fines of £15,000 per vehicle.
The government may be open to supporting the industry’s transition efforts, even if the EV adoption targets stay in place.
Haigh told media at the weekend that she was in “listening mode” about the challenges facing manufacturers ahead of her attending a bilateral meeting with Nissan on Monday and a wider roundtable with the automotive industry scheduled for Wednesday.
“There are flexibilities in the current mandate, but we want to work with the manufacturing sector about whether these are working and whether we can address them,” she told LBC radio. “But the level of our ambition and the mandate will not be weakened.”
Options reportedly under consideration include counting British-made EVs sold abroad toward domestic targets, or crediting manufacturers for reducing factory emissions.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves recently reaffirmed that the 2030 ban on new diesel and petrol car sales will go ahead, with a narrow allowance for hybrids until 2035.