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Born free, as free as the wind blows?
The Cupra Born bursts onto our charts for most searched car on the PINK Salary Exchange platform in May at number 1. The new BMW I4 is also a new entry at number 2, and last month’s number 1, the VW ID4, falls out of the top 5.
In a month marked by a 21% year on year FALL in overall UK registrations, EVs represented 1 in 5 of all new cars, climbing 1.6% on April.
Nearly 13,000 electric cars were registered in April, up more than 40% from the same month last year. According to HRUX, the number of electric vehicles on the road is close to 475k, or about 1.5 percent of the 31.7m registered vehicles.
As the interest in electric cars continues to grow, so does the choice of vehicles in the market. This year alone we have seen the release of the Cupra Born, VW ID.4 and the Citroen Ami, if you haven’t seen the Ami yet, then I recommend having a look, it is a very unique looking car.
Tesla led the market last year, but the increased variety has demonstrated that consumers are beginning to look elsewhere. Tesla has dropped from being one of the most searched for cars on the platform to only 5th in just a few months.
Taking a look at Volkswagen, the ID.3 was the 3rd best-selling EV in 2021. In February, they unveiled the ID.4, a more spacious and SUV style car. In April, the ID.4 was the most searched car on the platform, closely followed by the Audi Q4.
Tesla didn’t win a prize at the 2022 Fleet Awards. We could debate whether that was the right outcome, but there’s no doubting that their products, and in particular the 3 and the new Y, are dominating fleet sales. In 2020 The Tesla 3 was the 2nd biggest selling car of all fuel types, and in the month of December it was number 1. History may look back on the model 3, in particular, like we look back on the Ford Model T, the VW Beetle or the Mini even, as the car that defined an era.
That said Tesla’s success is clearly linked to the relatively free supply of new units. Many of the EVs you see advertised on TV every night are subject to long lead times and in some cases the order books are currently closed. But Tesla seems to be beating the odds.
In the March dashboard its always interesting to look at what cars people are actually searching for on our platform. The Tesla 3 is there but is only 4th (3rd last month). Audi’s Q4 has come in as the most searched car. Nearly twice as many people looked up the Q4 than the model 3 over the last 30 days. The BMW I4 is second and Mercedes are third with the EQA. The I4 did win Best Premium Car at the Fleet Awards.
Overall Audi was the most searched make on our platform, beating last month’s leader, VW.
HRUX estimates there are now 423 thousand EV cars on the road in the UK, which is around 1.3% of the total of 31.7m cars. In 2020 the UK was the fourth largest market for EVs and PHEVs in the world, beaten only by China, Germany and the US.
It is probably not surprising that EV registrations have fallen back from their peak of 25% (of all cars registered) in December 2021. At 12.5% it’s just under double the figure for January 2021 which suggests 2022 will be another record year for EVs. Could we surpass 25% for the whole year – 1 in 4 of all new cars sold?
The VW ID3 takes the top slot for cars searched on our platform by employees, up from 2nd in December. The Tesla 3 falls to 3rd. In December the Tesla 3 was the biggest selling car in the UK, of all fuel types, which is an amazing feat for an electric car. This makes the VWs rise to the top for January even more impressive.
Just under 1 in 5 of our clients employees who’ve used our platform have now ordered a car, which is helping us all, as we push total EVs registered in the UK beyond 412 thousand units (compared to over 31m petrols and diesels) on British roads.
December 2021 was a record month for EV sales in the UK. Pure EVs accounted for 26% of all new cars registered, beating diesel (which were just 8%).
Across the UK, the biggest selling car of all in December was the Tesla 3, and it was also the most often searched on our platform, beating VWs ID3 into second and e-UP into third.
On average, across all of our clients that have gone live on the Pink Salary Exchange platform, 1 in 5 of the eligible employees have already ordered their new EV.
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