EV demand stalls for a second month working regardless of new automotive gross sales hitting a 22-year excessive in February
More new cars were sold last month than in any February since 2004, official registrations figures show on Thursday.
However, the 22-year high was recorded while demand for electric vehicles stalled emphatically for a second month in a row.
Some 90,100 new models were registered in February, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) confirmed.
This is an increase of 7.2 per cent from the 84,054 units sold in the second month of 2025, with dealers shifting more vehicles than usual ahead of the new-plate month of March.
Demand for new motors was largely driven by a recovering market of private buyers, with sales to people stepping foot in showrooms increasing 17.6 per cent year-on-year.
But appetite for EVs continues to wane. Market share fell for a second month running, threatening to detail the Government’s green targets.
New car sales hit a 22-year high in February. However, demand for EV sales stagnated for a second month running – and it’s putting the Government’s green targets in danger
Sales of new 100 per cent electric cars grew just 2.8 per cent between February 2025 and 2026.
Some 21,840 of last month’s registrations were EVs, up from 21,244 recorded 12 months earlier.
This was set against a faster growing general market across all fuel types, which saw only a decline in diesel sales in February.
A surge in plug-in hybrid (PHEV) demand, up 43.5 per cent, and a significant 5.2 per cent jump in petrol vehicle sales means the market share of EVs has contracted for the second month in a row.
The 90,100 new cars registered in February was the most sold in the second month of a calendar year since 2004, the trade body said
EVs last month accounted for 24.2 per cent of all new car registrations, having contributed to 25.3 per cent of the market in February 2025.
This falls well short of the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) mandate – the Government’s binding targets to navigate an increase in electric car sales between now and 2035 – which for 2026 dictates that 33 per cent of all new models sold by manufacturers must be electric.
The SMMT said the slowdown in EV uptake has been made to look more prominent because sales are compared to a buoyant early 2025 period.
Many electric car drivers brought forward purchases to the first four months of last year to avoid Labour’s road tax sting, with Rachel Reeves levying Vehicle Excise Duty on zero-emission EVs for the first time from April 2025.
Mike Hawes, the trade body’s chief executive, said an ‘urgent review’ of EV sales targets is now required as well as a raft of new incentives to stoke appetite among drivers.
This includes reducing the cost of public charging, which a court ruled earlier this month should be slashed from 20 to 5 per cent VAT to match domestic energy taxation.
‘Given sales of new pure petrol and diesel cars are currently required to end in less than four years, EV uptake must accelerate rapidly,’ Hawes warned.
‘Manufacturers have committed monumental investment to drive demand but such costs cannot be sustained indefinitely, making a review of the transition an urgent priority to ensure ambition matches natural demand.’
Ginny Buckley accused the Government of rattling ‘fragile consumer confidence’ in electric cars with the Chancellor’s Autumn Budget announcement of pay-per-mile taxation in 2028
Ginny Buckley, founder of Electrifying.com and a prominent spokesperson on behalf of the electric car sector, accused the Chancellor of rattling ‘fragile consumer confidence’ with her Autumn Budget announcement that EV owners would be hit with a 3p per-mile tax from 2028 to fund Treasury coffers.
Since the statement in November, electric car sales – particularly among private buyers – have taken a clobbering.
Referencing a poll she conducted with the AA of 11,000 non-EV drivers earlier this year, Ginny accused ministers of ‘sending mixed signals of EV running costs’ to the public.
‘More than half said the idea of pay-per-mile road charging would make them less likely to go electric,’ she told us.
‘The direction of travel is clear: drives want cheap running costs and greater energy security. Policy should reinforce that shift towards fully electric vehicles, not slow it down.’
Tesla recorded a 37% decline in sales in February. But a spokesman for he brand hit back at the numbers claiming a shipment of new – cheaper – Tesla cars is due to land in the UK imminently
Driving the decline in EV sales last month was a 37 per cent fall in Tesla registrations.
The US brand shifted only 2,422 cars compared to 3,852 in February 2025 as Elon Musk’s growing global unpopularity appears to be weighing heavy on the car firm.
Yet a Tesla spokesperson bit back last night, telling the Daily Mail and This is Money that ‘Tesla’s monthly registration figures are not an accurate reflection of sales or orders taken’ and that ‘multiple vessels’ loaded with its new cheaper Model 3 and Model Y Rear Wheel Drive variants are due to land imminently, sparking a ‘bounce back’ for the brand.
That said, the Model 3 was February’s third best-selling car across all fuel types, with 1,584 registrations representing two in three Teslas sold last month.
In contrast to Tesla’s fortunes, newcomer Chinese brands secured significant growth yet again.
BYD sales were up 83 per cent to 2,154 units and the three brands under the Chery banner – including Chery, Jaecoo and Omoda – secured 4,720 registrations in total. This is an increase of 280 per cent having only entered the market last year.
The Jaecoo 7 SUV, January’s best-selling new car, was third overall in the rankings for February, with the majority of orders being for the super-hybrid-system versions being placed by private buyers.
The most popular cars of all last month were the Ford Puma followed by the Kia Sportage – the two biggest sellers in 2025.
