World EV Day is coming up on September 9^th, and the fifth annual celebration of the full electric vehicle (EV) will be by far the biggest, thus reflecting the increasing importance and influence of the EV in the motor vehicle sector. The clue is in the title “World EV day”. These regular ‘celebration’ days are often localised events for highlighting charitable causes or health issues, but promoting an issue which has a global impact is a big deal. And that’s because the electrification of the motor vehicle industry is unstoppable, and that is a pretty big deal.

The environmental benefits of decarbonising vehicles on our roads are absolutely huge, and current market figures suggest global populations are now buying into that. And at the same time global policymakers are providing mechanisms to fast-track and incentivise vehicle electrification, to the point that World EV Day is as much a celebration of a now burgeoning industry as it is an opportunity to raise awareness and educate.

The growing EV market in the UK

In the UK we have one of the biggest EV markets in the world, and with a growing charging infrastructure facilitating this. At the end of July 2024 there were 1.19 million EVs on UK roads, while at the end of 2020 there were less than 250,000. There are also 680,000 plug-in hybrids being driven in the UK, suggesting that many people are taking the first step in an eventual transition to full EV driving.

These figures are helped by the vast investment in research and development made by a motor vehicle industry that has clearly bought into the idea that full electrification is inevitable. In the UK, the manufacture of new petrol and diesel vehicles is planned to cease in 2030 (this was recently brought forward from 2035 since the new Labour government came into power) and globally, other countries and territories are following suit, making events like World EV Day even more important in raising awareness of the benefits and importance of moving to more environmentally friendly modes of transport. It has prompted nearly every major vehicle brand to develop an EV for a specific market segment, and some have an EV for every sector, be it supermini, SUV, family hatchback crossovers, vans, 4x4s, exec cars or performance vehicles.

A wider choice of EVs led to 315,000 new EVs being registered in the UK in 2023, an 18% increase on 2022, and in July 2024, 18.5% of all new vehicles registered were EVs (27,335 vehicles) which is a figure that is exponentially increasing every month. World EV Day has therefore become more influential since the first event in 2020, although the aim is still to drive change and influence policymakers. But with a more prominent market percentage, the EV industry knows it can now use the day as a key milestone event to make new announcements and to activate more change. So look out for what news is released on September 9^th.

A next generation salary sacrifice car scheme from Pink Salary Exchange

Naturally, at Pink Salary Exchange we are right behind World EV Day and are looking forward to celebrating the increasing interest in this exciting motor vehicle sector. With more models on the market than ever before and rapidly improving technology in terms of battery capacity, performance, safety and entertainment, the EV sector is reaching an unstoppable velocity, with the promise that change will only become more beneficial and more exciting as time goes on. And the Pink Salary Exchange salary sacrifice car scheme is right in the thick of it.

By choosing to drive an EV through our next generation salary sacrifice car scheme employees can enjoy all the benefits of EV driving (lower everyday motoring costs, lower service and maintenance costs, BIK tax breaks etc.) and at the same time can enjoy reduced income tax and national insurance payments. But most of all they are reducing their own direct carbon impact and contributing to the biggest global initiative to slow down climate change. That has to be worth celebrating on September 9^th on World EV Day.