New vehicle licensing statistics released by the Department for Transport reveal the onward march of electric vehicles (EV), following this year’s “pump-price roller coaster”, the AA has said.
The new official figures show that when compared with the first quarter of 2025, this year 150,000 zero emission vehicles were registered for the first time, an increase of 12.9%, with 146,000 on the road.
At the end of March 2026, compared to March 2025, in the UK there were 2,148,000 licensed zero emission vehicles, an increase of 29.6%.
Zero emission vehicles accounted for 5.1% of all licensed vehicles, an increase of 1.1 percentage points compared to March 2025.
The AA also revealed a 30.7% increase in road vehicles’ electricity consumption between 2024 and 2025. In the first quarter of this year, electricity used by EVs jumped a further 28.1%.
It comes as petrol and diesel pump-price averages continue to rise. Petrol reached 151.4p a litre, up 0.6p from last week’s six-week low, while diesel now averages 165.2p after being as low as 164.8p last week.
Jack Cousens, the AA’s head of roads policy, said:
“The latest quarterly update of licensed vehicle numbers shows the onward march of electric vehicles, spurred on initially by the pump-price shock earlier this year and then the enduring trauma of the petrol and diesel cost rollercoaster.
“This year, car owners who can afford to switch to electric cars have said ‘enough is enough’ and converted to power from the grid over petrol from the forecourt. The AA EV Readiness Index showed that even those with less money available have been looking at ways to switch more cheaply: searches on AA Cars for used EVs have increased 78% in the last three months compared to the previous three months.”
Image courtesy of Green Car Guide
