Latest green car figures
The Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid has extended its lead over the Nissan Leaf to be the most popular ultra-low carbon car or van on the road.
Analysis of the latest DVLA figures by the RAC Foundation show that at the end of Q1 2016 there were 19,945 plug-in hybrid Outlanders licensed in the UK. This compares with 16,100 at the end of Q4 2015.
Next came the pure battery-electric Nissan Leaf at 12,469.
In third place was the BMW i3 (4,065) which is available with a choice of drive trains: pure battery electric or a range extended version (where a petrol internal combustion engine is used to recharge the battery on long journeys).
The i3 is followed by the Renault Zoe (3,918) and the Tesla Model S (2,826), both of which are pure battery-electric.
The two cars with the fastest growing sales – in percentage terms – were the Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine plug-in hybrid (up 1,400% quarter on quarter to 561) and the Mercedes Benz C350 e (up 200% to 1,898).
In total there were 58,469 plug-in grant eligible vehicles on the road at the end of Q1 2016, 10,549 more than at the end of the previous quarter.
This is the list of all 40 vehicles that are, or have been, eligible for the government’s plug-in car and van grant schemes and which were on the road in the UK at the end of Q1 2016 (the most recent date for which figures are available).
|
Rank |
Make and Model |
Q1 2016 |
Q4 2015 |
Q3 2015 |
Q2 2015 |
|
1 |
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (all variants: cars and vans) |
19,945 |
16,100 |
14,099 |
12,066 |
|
2 |
Nissan Leaf |
12,469 |
11,219 |
10,441 |
9,310 |
|
3 |
BMW i3 (number of which are range extended versions) |
4,065 (2,855) |
3,574 (2,440) |
2,943 (1,940) |
2,484 (1,579) |
|
4 |
Renault Zoe |
3,918 |
3,327 |
2,401 |
2,062 |
|
5 |
Tesla Model S |
2,826 |
2,087 |
1,346 |
1,047 |
|
6 |
Volkswagen Golf GTE |
1,970 |
1,359 |
1,025 |
350 |
|
7 |
Mercedes-Benz C350 e |
1,898 |
628 |
128 |
19 |
|
8 |
Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid |
1,651 |
1,580 |
1,501 |
1,439 |
|
9 |
Audi A3 e-tron |
1,445 |
1,218 |
1,033 |
570 |
|
10 |
Vauxhall Ampera |
1,261 |
1,272 |
1,279 |
1,250 |
|
11 |
Nissan e-NV200 (all variants: cars and vans) |
1,243 |
1,047 |
896 |
705 |
|
12 |
BMW i8 |
1,163 |
1,022 |
964 |
823 |
|
13 |
Renault Kangoo ZE |
755 |
740 |
731 |
719 |
|
14 |
Volvo XC90 T8 Twin Engine |
561 |
38 |
– |
– |
|
15 |
Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid |
454 |
395 |
361 |
336 |
|
16 |
Peugeot Ion |
383 |
374 |
371 |
368 |
|
17 |
Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (all variants: cars and vans) |
366 |
337 |
314 |
299 |
|
18 |
BMW 330e |
340 |
– |
– |
|
|
19 |
Mitsubishi i-Miev |
257 |
251 |
250 |
252 |
|
20 |
Smart ForTwo Electric Drive |
214 |
212 |
216 |
215 |
|
21 |
Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive |
193 |
162 |
157 |
61 |
|
22 |
Citroen C-Zero |
192 |
167 |
199 |
205 |
|
23 |
Kia Soul EV |
170 |
145 |
83 |
53 |
|
24 |
Volkswagen e-up! |
150 |
142 |
133 |
124 |
|
25 |
Mercedes-Benz S500 Hybrid |
129 |
157 |
159 |
138 |
|
26 |
Chevrolet Volt |
122 |
122 |
119 |
125 |
|
27 |
Volkswagen e-Golf |
120 |
114 |
98 |
88 |
|
28 |
Renault Fluence |
78 |
70 |
71 |
71 |
|
29 |
BMW 225xe |
65 |
– |
– |
– |
|
30 |
Daimler Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell |
23 |
23 |
21 |
27 |
|
31 |
Ford Focus Electric |
19 |
19 |
21 |
23 |
|
32 |
Mia (all variants: cars and vans) |
15 |
15 |
14 |
12 |
|
33 |
Toyota Mirai |
9 |
4 |
2 |
– |
|
34 |
BYD e6 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
BD Otomotiv eTraffic |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
BD Otomotiv eDucato |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
Citroen Berlingo EV |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
Peugeot ePartner |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
Smith Electric Smith Edison |
– |
– |
– |
– |
|
= |
Mahindra e20 |
– |
|||
|
|
Total |
58,469 |
47,920 |
41,376 |
35,241 |
Note: Some of the vehicles above might have been bought without the grant. Some might be licensed to manufacturers and dealers rather than customers. The total number licensed is below the total number of grants claimed because of the lag between an order being placed and the car being delivered.
Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said:
“The ultra-green car market remains a two-horse race. Between them the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Nissan Leaf account for well over half of all plug-in car grant eligible vehicles on the road.
“But in recent months it is the Outlander which has been making the running with sales racing ahead of those for the Leaf.
“The big question is what happens now. The start of March saw significant changes to the plug-in car grant scheme. Not only did the maximum grant drop from £5,000 to £4,500, in some cases it is as little as £2,500 depending which vehicle the buyer chooses. Manufacturers will be nervously watching how much this changes consumer behaviour.”
ENDS
Contacts:
Philip Gomm – Head of External Communications – RAC Foundation
020 7747 3445 | 07711 776448 | [email protected]
Notes to editors:
The RAC Foundation is a transport policy and research organisation that explores the economic, mobility, safety and environmental issues relating to roads and their users. The Foundation publishes independent and authoritative research with which it promotes informed debate and advocates policy in the interest of the responsible motorist.
The RAC Foundation is a registered charity, number 1002705.
On 1 March 2016 changes were made to the structure of the plug-in car grant scheme with certain vehicles recategorised. This is a link to an explanation of the new eligibility criteria and grant levels:
Details of the Foundation’s work is available at www.racfoundation.org
The RAC Foundation’s plug-in grant factsheet is available here:
The licensing figures by model are available to view on the RAC Foundation website:
http://www.racfoundation.org/data/plug-in-grant-eligible-vehicles-licensed-by-quarter
It is available to embed on your website using the following code:
<iframe class=”highcharts-iframe” src=”//cloud.highcharts.com/embed/igocyt” style=”border: 0; width: 100%; height: 500px”></iframe>
The overall number of plug-in car and van grant eligible vehicles licensed plotted over time (broken down by pure electric versus plug-in hybrids) is also available on the same webpage:
http://www.racfoundation.org/data/plug-in-grant-eligible-vehicles-licensed-by-quarter
It is available to embed on your website using the following code:
<iframe class=”highcharts-iframe” src=”//cloud.highcharts.com/embed/ijykuc” style=”border: 0; width: 100%; height: 500px”></iframe>