The UK became the largest electric vehicle market in Europe in 2024 with sales of 381,970 EVs meaning it moved ahead of Germany where sales fell by more than 25% to 380,609. 

Sales in the UK were up 21%, largely driven by manufacturers making EVs more affordable so that they can reach targets under the government’s EV Sales Mandate and avoid hefty fines, which can be as much as £15,000 per vehicle. 

By contrast, EV sales in Germany, Ireland and countries such as France and Sweden declined in 2024 as subsidises were removed. It is also thought that manufacturers held back on EV sales in EU countries last year to make new targets for 2025 more achievable.

The rising UK sales saw EVs take 19.6% of the new car market, where as in Germany EVs were 13.5% of registrations. In Ireland the sales of pure battery electric vehicles represented 14.4% of the new car sales market, well behind government targets and 23.6% down on 2023. 

Interestingly the rise in EV sales in the UK market was also mainly driven by fleet buyers, with only 1 in 10 new EVs purchased by private buyers.