One electric vehicle sold every 60 seconds in July after price cuts

One electric vehicle was sold every 60 seconds in July after carmakers cut prices to attract cash-strapped drivers, industry data shows.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) revealed an 88pc year-on-year increase in the sale of battery-powered vehicles last month, as deliveries hit 23,000.

This comes after manufacturers, such as Elon Musk’s Tesla ^[1], reduced prices.

The SMMT welcomed the increase in electric car sales but said “consumers must be given every possible incentive to buy”, as it called on the Government to scale up infrastructure.

It also warned that its outlook for overall sales next year had been downgraded by 0.7pc as households struggled with the increased cost of living.

There has been growing concern about the lack of charging capabilities for battery-powered cars across the UK, particularly for drivers embarking on long-distance journeys.

Last year just one new public charger was built for every 53 electric cars sold.

0104 Electric car infrastructure struggles to keep up ^[2]

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “Government must pull every lever to make buying, running and, especially, charging an EV affordable and practical for every driver in every part of the country.”

Figures released by the SMMT in February showed 368,617 plug-in cars were registered in Britain last year, while just 6,949 standard chargers were installed.

This shortfall has fuelled the debate over Rishi Sunak’s plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030.^[3]

The policy was recently opposed by Tory grassroots in a new survey ^[4], as just 15pc of the Conservative Party members believed the Government was right to press ahead with the ban.

Jamie Hamilton, automotive partner and head of electric vehicles at Deloitte, said the lack of charging infrastructure “still remains a real issue for people”.

“For EVs to integrate further into everyday life, greater accessibility to public charging points is still required,” he said.

Rising uptake ^[5]

The latest SMMT data also revealed a 29pc jump in the sale of cars across the board, which was driven by the easing of global parts shortages.

However, the 1.1m cars sold so far this year is still way behind the 1.4m total from the same period in 2019.

Much of the sales growth in battery-powered vehicles stems from corporate buyers acquiring them as company cars, aided by tax incentives.

Richard Peberdy, UK Head of Automotive for KPMG, said: “The major growth in the market is being driven by (firms’) fleet and business vehicle purchases, who previously found stock hard to come by due to pandemic supply disruption.^[6]

“Electric vehicles are a key part of this business buying growth - aided by low benefit-in-kind tax and write-down allowances.”

One limiting factor to the roll-out of charging bays for battery-powered cars is access to the electricity grid.^[7]

Charging companies have complained to the SMMT about slow progress in gaining access, while faster chargers also put more pressure on the grid as they demand rapid bursts of energy,

Earlier this week BMW warned investors that it is suffering higher costs in developing electric vehicles ^[8], which sent its shares down by more than 6pc.

The carmaker also reported a lower profit margin for the three months to the end of June as it stocked up on parts.

By contrast, sales rose by almost a quarter at Toyota several days ago, buoyed by high demand during the first three months of the year.

The world’s biggest maker also confirmed it will accelerate plans for electric vehicles in China amid fierce competition with domestic manufacturers.

It will ramp up efforts by developing new parts for electric models and creating high-tech interiors for Chinese buyers.

References

^{^} Elon Musk’s Tesla (www.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} 0104 Electric car infrastructure struggles to keep up (cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} Rishi Sunak’s plan to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030. (www.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} recently opposed by Tory grassroots in a new survey (www.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} Rising uptake (cf-particle-html.eip.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} pandemic supply disruption. (www.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} access to the electricity grid. (www.telegraph.co.uk)
^{^} BMW warned investors that it is suffering higher costs in developing electric vehicles (www.telegraph.co.uk)