2025 record year for EV sales: comment
New car sales data shows record year for EV sales: comment
By Colin Walker
info@eciu.netShare
Last updated:
Commenting on new car sales data for 2025 which shows that one in three cars sold in December were EVs [1] Colin Walker, Head of Transport at the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU), said:
2025 has been another bumper year for EV sales, with nearly one in four cars sold in 2025 being an EV. As more and more models come to market, increasing competition has continued to push prices down, allowing an ever-increasing number of British families to make the move to electric to save on their driving bills.
“As a whole, the car industry has now met its targets under the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate policy for the second year running. [2] This policy in turn will boost the UK’s second-hand market where the majority of us buy our cars, easing cost of living concerns for drivers. Indeed British EV drivers are already saving hundreds of pounds more on running their cars every year compared to their German counterparts. [3]
“With electric Minis being built in Oxford, the new Nissan Leaf now rolling off the production lines in Sunderland, the new electric Jaguars set to start emerging this year from factories in the West Midlands, and billions set to be invested in the country's charging infrastructure, the UK is well-set to forge ahead as a front-runner in the global transition to EVs as Europe risks setting itself back. [4] A stable regulatory environment will be key for this.”
Notes to editors:
1. The data from New Automotive confirming that one in three cars sold in December was an EV, and that EVs accounted for 23.4% of cars sold across 2025 as a whole, is published on Tue 6 Jan. Data released on the same day by the SMMT is likely to be very similar.
2.Analysis by the ECIU of vehicle CO2 and sales data from the Department for Transport has shown that the car industry as a whole will have met its targets under the ZEV mandate for 2025, the second year running. This has been confirmed by today's 2025 full-year sales data from New Automotive, with similar figures expected from the SMMT. The Government has confirmed that the 2024 target has been met. While the headline EV sales target for 2025 is 28%, our analysis estimates that the main flexibility in the ZEV mandate lowers the percentage of EVs that the industry as a whole actually needed to sell to around 20.4% - other analysts have reached similar conclusions using slightly different methods, and the exact value will be confirmed by the Government later this year. The rest of the target can be made up through the flexibility that accounts for the sale of lower emission petrol and diesel cars. With EV sales for 2025 hitting 23.4%, this means the industry has exceeded - by around three percentage points in this case - the sales of EVs required for the second year running.
3. https://eciu.net/media/press-releases/2025/smart-british-ev-drivers-saving-more-that-german-counterparts-analysis
4. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crk78y7k8ezo
For more information or for interview requests:
George Smeeton, Head of Communications, ECIU, Tel: 07894 571 153, email: george.smeeton@eciu.net