EVs Take 33.7% Share Of The UK – BYD Dolphin Surf Arrives!

Could noticed plugin EVs take 33.7% share of the UK auto market, up from 25.7% year-on-year. BEVs grew in quantity by 26% YoY, whereas PHEVs grew 51%. General auto quantity was fractionally up year-on-year, at 150,070 models. Volkswagen was the UK’s main BEV model in Could.

Could’s gross sales totals noticed mixed plugin EVs take 33.7% share of the UK auto market, with full electrics (BEVs) taking 21.8%, and plugin hybrids (PHEVs) taking 11.9%. These evaluate with YoY shares of 25.7% mixed, 17.6% BEV, and eight.0% PHEV.

Each BEVs and PHEVs grew YoY quantity at a wholesome clip (by 26% and 51% respectively). HEVs grew YoY quantity by simply over 4%, and combustion-only powertrains misplaced quantity regardless of the rising general market. Taking a look at year-to-date efficiency, plugins at the moment stand at a mixed 30.9% market share, in comparison with 23.9% share at this level in 2024. YTD, over two-thirds of UK plugin gross sales are BEVs.

In the meantime, petrol-only share has been beneath 50% for the previous 4 months, and diesel-only share has stayed beneath 6%. It’s doable that mixed plugin share might – for the primary time – briefly overtake mixed combustion-only share in December this yr.

Finest-Promoting BEV Manufacturers

The Volkswagen model was the main BEV vendor in Could, with 11.5% of the passenger BEV market, led by the ID.4 and the ID.7. In second place was BMW with 7.3% share, with the i4 and iX2 the best-selling fashions.

The Audi model got here in third, with 6.9% of the BEV market, with the Q6 e-tron and This autumn e-tron the preferred fashions.

Final yr’s chief, Tesla, took 4th place in Could – an enchancment over its sluggish April (seventeenth spot) – as the brand new Tesla Mannequin Y began to reach in average numbers. Early figures for June counsel that Mannequin Y models at the moment are arriving a lot sooner, with Tesla’s first-week-of-June market share at over 21% of the UK BEV market. This share will average over your complete month, nevertheless it’s doable Tesla will return to the highest spot, let’s wait and see.

General there have been no massive adjustments in rating apart from Tesla’s regular month-to-month variations.

I couldn’t detect any debuts within the (patchy) mannequin knowledge, although among the latest newcomers are rising and reshaping the market. Essentially the most important to this point this yr is the brand new Skoda Elroq, which noticed an enormous buyer debut in March with 959 models (following a couple of prior test-drive models in January). It has since delivered 713 models in April, and 750 models in Could. Briefly, it has had a really robust reception, and appears to be successful for Skoda within the UK market.

Equally, the brand new Ford Puma launched in April with a robust 301 models, and elevated to 354 models in Could, with room to develop a lot additional. At a smaller scale, however with potential to continue to grow, the MG S5 noticed a quiet debut in March with 15 models, stepped as much as 116 in April, and 122 in Could.

Turning now to the small-and-affordable phase; essentially the most reasonably priced — the Dacia Spring — which arrived in October, averaged round 300 month-to-month models initially after which jumped as much as 700 models in March. April and Could have seen it again to round 300 month-to-month models. That is stable, although not spectacular.

Within the barely dearer (although extra competent) phase, the Citroen e-C3 noticed 162 models in February, 301 in March, 93 in April, and 123 in Could. The Hyundai Inster debuted in April with 204 models, and grew to 228 in Could. This class is at the moment led by the Renault 5, nonetheless, which noticed 158 models in February, 60 in March, 370 in April, and 510 in Could. This was sufficient to see the Renault 5 scrape into the UK’s high 20 BEV fashions in Could, an incredible early consequence for Renault.

Nevertheless, there’s now a scorching new contender on this class – the BYD Dolphin Surf – which registered its first 11 UK models in Could. These might solely be test-drive unit for now, and buyer deliveries will probably come a bit later. The Dolphin Surf was the third best-selling BEV worldwide in April, so the R5, the Inster, and the e-C3 are about to face a formidable new competitor of their phase.

This competitors in ever extra reasonably priced segments is nice information for customers and will imply that the steadiness of BEV market segments begins to extra carefully resemble that of the general auto market, after years of BEVs being largely restricted to dearer car classes.

Let’s now flip to the trailing three-month chart:

After two months in pole place, the Volkswagen model lastly overtook Tesla in Could’s trailing-3 chart. As talked about earlier, nonetheless, Tesla is on monitor to have an enormous June with the brand new Mannequin Y lastly capable of ship in quantity, and can probably re-take the model lead, maybe for the rest of the yr.

The notable climbers in comparison with three months prior embrace Kia, up 4 locations to sixth, because of the latest recognition of the EV3. Additionally, Skoda, up 9 locations to eighth spot, because of the Elroq. Lastly, BYD is doing solidly, up 6 locations to ninth, thanks to not any particular person superstars however as a substitute because of the model’s widening lineup of stable and good-value choices – together with the Atto 3, Seal, Dolphin, and Sealion.

Outlook

The UK’s broader macroeconomy is faring higher than many European neighbours, with 2025 Q1 YoY GDP figures exhibiting 1.3% progress, following 1.5% progress in 2024 This autumn. Inflation, nonetheless, stood at 3.5% in April (newest knowledge), sharply up from 2.6% in March, partly on account of power value will increase. Rates of interest had been lowered to 4.25% in early Could, from 4.5% prior. Manufacturing PMI improved to 46.4 factors in Could, from 45.4 factors in April.

Following the ZEV mandate’s success in its first yr of 2024, the 2025 mandate is anticipated to end in an general BEV share of round 23% to 24% this yr. That is decrease than the headline “28%” goal, as a result of numerous fudges for PHEVs, HEVs, and “environment friendly ICEs” are allowed to change the accounting. This may however be a sooner transition than many European neighbours, which have seen the EU’s 2025 car emissions targets not too long ago watered down.

Which BEV fashions are you looking for, or do you suppose will rapidly develop in recognition within the UK? Please share your ideas and views within the feedback under.