Used electric car sales soared in 2021 according to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), with a record 119.2% increase in sales.
In total, 40,228 used electric vehicles changed hands in 2021. Combined with the 56,861 plug-in hybrids, vehicles that can be plugged in to charge accounted for 3.1% of the total used car market. While that remains a small overall percentage, it is set to continue to grow dramatically in future years as more electric cars reach the used market and help overcome questions over range and durability.
In total, more than 7.5 million used cars changed hands last year, an increase of 11.5%. The growth in the used car market has been driven by inflated delivery times on new cars as a result of the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage.
The huge rise in used EV sales is another boost for the popularity of battery-powered cars in the UK. Last year 190,000 new electric vehicles were sold in the UK, a record 11.6% share of the UK market. More than one in nine new cars were electric with buyers snapping up more EVs than they had in the previous five years combined.
While used EV sales rose dramatically, used petrol and diesel car sales also increased by 10.7% and 9.8% respectively. This meant that even with a record demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles, 96,6% of all used car sales were still either petrol or diesel models, suggesting how far the market must go to meet zero emission ambitions.
“It’s good to see the used car market return to growth, even if activity is still below where we were pre-pandemic,” said SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes.
“With the global shortage of semiconductors set to ease later this year, releasing the squeeze on new car supply, we expect more of the latest, cleanest and zero emission models to become available for second owners.”
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