THE North West is seeing the fastest growth in electric car registrations of any region in the UK, according to analysis on DVLA data by leasing comparison website LeaseLoco.
The leasing deal aggregator has found that registrations of new electric vehicles (EVs) have more than tripled in the region over the last 12 months, with 21,993 EVs registered at the start of 2021 – up 214% from 7,005 the previous year.
A Freedom of Information submission was made to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), requesting the most up-to-date registration figures for pure-EVs registered in the UK.
Other areas of significant growth include the South West (142%), Yorkshire and the Humber (132%), and the South East (128%). Scotland has seen EV registrations almost double since the start of 2020, up 97%, and London has seen an increase in new EVs by 69%.
John Wilmot, CEO of LeaseLoco, said: “These DVLA figures show a huge disparity between regions where consumers are showing commitment to early switching to electric vehicles, and regions where electric car switching needs a jump start.
“The demand is definitely there – we have seen electric car enquiries on our site almost triple this year and we have hundreds of thousands of EV deals available to consumers.
“But EV registrations still make up a very small percentage of the total number of new car sales. While they are cheap to run and most owners are keen to drive less-polluting cars, too many people who rely on their vehicles for work and leisure, are holding off making the switch while there are question marks around the charging infrastructure and the initial cost of an electric vehicle.
“The government needs to take advantage of the growing popularity of zero emissions motoring, but the worry is that without more focus, investment and education, demand will not translate into sales and momentum will be lost.”
Region | Number of BEVs registered: Start 2021 | Number of BEVs registered: Start 2020 | % Increase in BEVs |
| North West | 21,993 | 7,005 | 214% |
| South West | 27,964 | 11,554 | 142% |
| Yorkshire & the Humber | 14,639 | 6,304 | 132% |
| South East | 51,205 | 22,453 | 128% |
| Scotland | 14,808 | 7,529 | 97% |
| East | 21,038 | 11,152 | 89% |
| Northern Ireland | 2,549 | 1,390 | 83% |
| East Midlands | 10,047 | 5,793 | 73% |
| Wales | 4,641 | 2,696 | 72% |
| London | 24,908 | 14,735 | 69% |
| North East | 3,574 | 2,323 | 54% |
| West Midlands | 16,888 | 11,628 | 45% |
Table: UK regions ranked in order of fastest growth in BEV registrations, 2021 vs 2020
