The rise and rise of EVs

In 2021, there were around 400,000 EVs on UK roads. Today, there are over 1.7 million.

By 2030 it’ll be 8 million. By 2040 there will be 25.5 million.

(Source: Projections from the Energy Saving Trust (EST) based on the UK Government's "Road to Zero")

EV growth is now a certainty. The electric transition is past a tipping point, into critical mass. It is no longer the choice of the early adoptors. EVs are mainstream.

Here are 5 reasons why you can be confident in this prediction.

In 2012, if you wanted an EV, you had to go very small and a bit ugly. Nissan Leaf, Citroën C-Zero, Mitsubishi i-MiEV, Peugeot iOn.

Today there is genuine choice in manufacturers and models. There are 90+ models available in the UK, with 1,000+ specs. The market is democratising with options for every budget and need.

The gap in RRP between EVs and their petrol equivalents is closing.

But RRP is becoming meaningless. Around 39% of all new cars are sold privately, meaning that most drivers lease (eg business contract hire, salary sacrifice). And get significant discounts and savings as a result.

So here’s a more relevant example - what it costs to lease an Omoda E5, one of the best selling EVs.

(Sources - Leasing.com, Octopus EV. Based on Personal Contract Hire, 5k annual miles, 48 months, exc. insurance service, maintenance, fuel/charge.)

Actually, if you compare by Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), across all buying and leasing scenarios, EVs have gone beyond parity in most situations, with drivers saving on average almost £6k over the duration of their ownership.

(Sources: £-32: Electryfying.com; £2,391: Electryfying.com; £5,850: EVUK)

There are 86,000 public charging points in the UK, across 43,500 locations. There are only about 8,300 petrol stations.

And +9,000 of those charging points are ultra-rapid (> 150kW).

(Sources: Fuel Market Review - August 2025; Zapmap data, UK devices, 30th September 2025)

And it’s taking less time to charge.

A 150kW charger can add about 100 miles of range in around 15 minutes.

Step up to a 350kW charger and you'll get 150-200 miles of range in about 20 minutes.

So...more chargers + faster charging = longer journeys.

Government policies are designed to accelerate EV numbers. And there are quite a few: the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate; a far lower Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) tax; ULEZ and other driving charge exemptions.

Salary sacrifice, the government scheme that allows people to pay for an EV from their pre-tax salary and save up to 40%, continues to prove popular.

Grants are also boosting sales. In September 2025, cars that qualified for the new EV Grant saw sales grow by 36%, compared to 27% for non-qualifying models.

A surge of high-quality EVs are now coming off three-to-four-year leases. This glut of supply is forcing prices down.

Used EV sales grew dramatically in the first half of 2025, from, just over 92,000 to almost 136,500 year-on-year.

To learn more about the growth of the EV market and the reasons covered here, head to our EV Hub.