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Comment on new EV sales figures for October
By Colin Walker
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Commenting on the figures for October’s new car sales released by New Automotive [1], Colin Walker, Head of Transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) said:
“Once again, more than one in four cars sold last months was an EV – crucially, EV sales actually exceeded the sale of pure petrol cars. Demand for EVs continues to grow in strength with more models becoming available, and prices coming down as competition between manufacturers hots up. And the more new EVs that are sold today, the quicker the second-hand EV market will grow – helping bring cheaper and cleaner electric driving into reach for more and more British households.
“Factoring in the flexibilities the car industry lobbied for in the Government’s EV sales targets, the car industry remains ahead of where it needs be to hit its targets for 2025. An increasing number of manufacturers are proving themselves up to the challenge of making and selling EVs, with Ford in particular having sold three-and-a-half times more EVs in 2025 than it had done by this point in 2024.
“But with the Government having bowed to industry pressure to introduce further flexibilities to its EV sales targets, we could see some manufacturers pushing more plug-in hybrid cars, which burn 490% more fuel than is claimed, [2] at the expense of EVs. This could keep regular families stuck driving dirtier and more expensive petrol cars for longer, costing them hundreds of pounds a year”.
Notes to editors:
1. The data is published on Wednesday 5 November
2. T&E: https://www.transportenvironment.org/articles/smoke-screen-the-growing-phev-emissions-scandal
For more information or for interview requests:
George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net
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