“August is typically the new car market’s quietest month so the huge increase in EV (electric vehicle) registrations is very visible but especially welcome,” SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said.
That success was driven in no small part by rapidly growing demand for the Tesla Model 3, which is now the UK's third most popular new car as sales of electric vehicles surged.
A total of 2,082 Tesla Model 3 cars were registered August, meaning that Model 3 registrations overtook popular cars including the Ford Focus, the Vauxhall Corsa and the Mercedes-Benz A-Class. In fact, only the Ford Fiesta and the Volkswagen Golf sold more during the month.
Pure electric vehicles represent only 1.1% of all car sales this year. However, sales of battery electric vehicles have almost doubled year on year in the 12 months to August, rising from just over 9,000 in 2018 to 17,393 this year.
