On Tuesday, the SMMT warned that electric vehicles (EVs) were now facing a “diminishing market share” with manufacturers set to significantly miss new sales targets put in force by the Government.
Car companies including the owner of Vauxhall have previously warned that customers are moving into EVs more slowly than the law allows.
In April, overall EV market share among businesses and consumers rose from 15.4pc to 16.9pc on an annual basis.
The SMMT is forecasting that of two million cars set to be registered in 2024, just 19.8pc will be electric – down from a previous estimate of 21pc.
That means at least some car makers are on course to miss the target set by the Government’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, which requires at least 22pc of sales to be electric from this year. Companies that miss the target are at risk of being fined. The SMMT does not break down its forecasts by manufacturer.
The ZEV mandate ratchets up further annually until it reaches 80pc in 2030, before a ban on the sale of new petrol cars in 2035.
In response to the latest figures, the SMMT reiterated calls for the Government to reinstate financial incentives for consumers buying electric cars – following the scrapping of the plug-in grant in 2022 – and said more needed to be done to ensure charging infrastructure was adequate.
It has previously demanded a cut in VAT on EV purchases that it claims would turbocharge demand.
The warning comes after figures from Auto Trader revealed that new EVs sold on the platform were being listed at record discount levels as dealerships struggled to shift them.
