125% more electric cars were sold in Britain in 2020 than in 2019.
This was in stark contrast to fossil fuel-powered vehicles, which all suffered dramatic falls, according to newly released government data.
A ban on new petrol and diesel cars from being sold in the UK is set to start in 2035– and it appears drivers are planning ahead.
How popular are electric vehicles compared to traditional cars?
179,000 electric cars were sold in 2020, which is still pretty far behind the 1.62 million fossil fuel-powered cars purchased by Brits.
Electric vehicles are still in the minority – but we’ve seen a seismic shift in recent years.
In 2011, 1,003 fossil fuel-powered cars were sold for every one electric vehicle.
In 2020 – less than a decade later – that number has nosedived to nine fossil fuel-powered cars for every electric one, and this trend shows no sign of slowing down.
Britain goes electric
Electric vehicles were already gaining in popularity, but this represents a massive acceleration of the trend.
In the three years before 2020, electric car sales rose by 27%, 20%, and 26% respectively.
This impressive but gradual growth was blown out of the water in 2020, when more electric vehicles were sold than all motorcycles, heavy goods vehicles, buses, and coaches combined.
Perhaps this uptick in uptake is due to the cheap running costs of electric vehicles, making them three times cheaper on a day-to-day basis than fossil fuel-powered cars.
And it doesn’t hurt that electric cars now have a typical range of around 200 miles, which is more than enough for most people.
