The UK electric car sales recorded their best month on record in September with over 56,000 new vehicles registered last month.

Figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that sales of pure EVs (BEVs) rose 24 per cent in comparison to last September, beaten only by PHEVs.

According to the latest Electric Car Count from New AutoMotive, carmakers are now surpassing the targets outlined in the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate, with EVs making up 20.8 per cent of total market share.

All of which is good, but there are some clouds on the horizon. For a start several major manufactures are seeking to delay governmental targets, and the bulk of EV sales is coming from fleet rather than private buyers leading to a glut of second-hand cars.

And despite achieving a 20.5 per cent share of the overall market, up from 16.6 per cent a year ago, this is not enough to shift market share significantly, which edged up from 17.2 per cent in the first eight months, to 17.8 per cent from January- September.

In an effort to offset this underlying paucity of demand, SMMT calculates that manufacturers are on course to spend at least £2bn on discounting EVs this year. Given the many billions already invested to develop and bring these models to market, SMMT says “the situation is untenable and threatens manufacturer and retailer viability”. For this reason, SMMT and 12 major vehicle manufacturers representing more than 75 per cent of the market, have written to the Chancellor calling for measures to support consumers and help speed up the pace of the EV transition with tax breaks, pointing to the success of salary sacrifice schemes that currently benefit from various allowances.

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