The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) has announced the number of cars on our roads has returned to the pre-pandemic levels of 2019.
According to SMMT data, a rise in 124,393 units last year saw car ownership in the UK rise to 35,148,045. To put this into perspective, the figure was 35,168,259 in 2019.
There’s also more than a million EVs out there now, with one in 32 cars on Britain’s roads coming with a charger – an increase of more than half over the last year.
The research also showed that battery-electric cars made up 652,341 of the total number, with plug-in hybrids adding 436,900.
Where does the North West sit in the car ownership standings?
We’re actually second on the list in terms of most cars owned across the UK, coming second to the South East:
1. South East: 5,903,877 (4.2% are plug-in)
2. North West: 3,886,689 (3.7% are plug-in)
3. South West: 3,524,839 (4.2% are plug-in)
4. East: 3,471,849 (2.9% are plug-in)
5. West Midlands: 3,201,750 (2.0% are plug-in)
What’s fuelling our cars?
Cars powered in part or full by electricity are increasing in popularity, but this is still gradual and only makes up 5.8% of the total cars on our roads.
High initial outlay costs for EVs plus the public chargepoint rollout continuing to lag behind EV uptake are two factors in this gradual increase, with one standard public charger for every 36 plug-in cars on the road.
1. Petrol 58.6%
2. Diesel 35.8%
3. Hybrid Electric 2.7%
4. Battery Electric 1.9%
5. Plug-in hybrid 1.2%
Did you know?
• The UK’s most popular cars are superminis and small family models, which account for nearly six in 10 cars in service.
• Two in three cars in use are manual transmission.
• 67.2% of cars driven in the UK were made in the EU, while 15.0% were built in Britain.
• Female car ownership has risen by 0.2% to 12,414,260 units, while male car ownership has fallen -0.3% to 18,070,718.
• The average car on the road is nine years old.
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