2021 was a booming year for the EV industry, even though the market was 28.7%below pre-covid-19 levels. More BEV vehicles were sold last year than the previous last 5 years combined with almost 200,000 registrations which accounts for 11.6% of all new car sales. In addition to this, PHEVs made up for 7.6% of new car sales. The growth of the EV market is expected to accelerate in the coming years as the UK nears the 2030 planned deadline to remove all petrol and diesel vehicles from the roads. This boom in the electric car market will have been welcomed by the government. However, the SMMT has warned that reductions in the value of the plug-in car grant could send out mixed messages to consumers.
In December, the maximum value of the grant, which is meant to bring down the cost of an electric car, was reduced from £2,500 to £1,500, and the number of eligible models was also narrowed down.
Furthermore, an acute lack of computer chips left dealers without many new conventional models. These chips are critical components of many electric cars, as they are used in emergency braking, airbags, entertainment systems, and navigation. Just as an idea of how many of these chips are used, in most electric cars, there are about 1,500 to 3,000 of these types of chips. The chip shortage was largely caused by COVID -19, as it had affected many areas in South-East Asia where these caps were largely produced
Amongst all electric cars in the UK, the ones that performed the best in the market during 2021 were the Tesla Model 3, Kia Niro, VW ID.3, and the Nissan Leaf.
The economic outlook for 2022 seems to be far better for the electric car market in the UK as compared to 2021. In 2022 they are expected to sell 260,000 electric cars vs 221,000 diesel models.
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