REVEALED: The UK’s electric vehicle numbers, ranked best to worst by local authority
Motorists across the UK have been dealt a massive blow by the huge increases in the cost of fuel recently.
These rocketing prices at the pump, combined with the effects of the cost of living crisis, which has seen household bills soar, has led everyone to look at ways they can save money.
We at Fleetcover wanted to find out how much the impact of the high fuel prices has had on motorists moving to greener transport (electric and hybrid vehicles). We carried out this case study last year on the back of the government’s announcement that the production of petrol and diesel vehicles would be stopped from 2030 – the results can be found here.
Last month (May 2022) we requested the latest data from the DVLA to look at which local authorities have the highest percentage of these vehicles, and which ones are lagging behind. (This was for the period between April 2020-April 2021, the most up to date data available).
This study looks at the percentage of green transport overall rather than specific numbers of vehicles – some local authorities may have more electric/hybrids than others, but they make up a smaller percentage of the overall number of vehicles, so they rank below other areas.
Electric vehicle uptake has increased across every local authority in the UK. The City of London is still in the top spot, with 17.73% (516 out of a total of 2,911, almost one in five) of all its vehicles falling under the electric/hybrid category.
In fact, three other areas from Greater London (Westminster, Tower Hamlets and Hammersmith and Fulham) made the top 10.
Top 10 Greenest Transport areas in the UK
- City of London, London (17.73%)
- Stockport, Greater Manchester (17.03%)
- Westminster, London (15.91%)
- Portsmouth, Hampshire (15.52%)
- Tower Hamlets, London (15.19%)
- South Gloucestershire, Gloucestershire (15.15%)
- Slough, Berkshire (14.65%)
- Windsor and Maidenhead, Berkshire (14.54%)
- Peterborough, Cambridgeshire (14.40%)
- Hammersmith and Fulham, London (14.35%)
At the other end of the table, Mid Ulster in Northern Ireland comes at the bottom of all 386 local authorities across the whole of the UK, with just 1.11% (1,214 out of 109,087) of all vehicles registered falling under the electric/hybrid category. It seems Northern Ireland has some way to go, with six of the worst local authorities hailing from the region.
Ready to get an Insurance Quote for your fleet?
Fill in our online quote form or call us on 0345 224 5329
Bottom 10 Greenest Transport areas in the UK (#1 being least friendly overall)
- Mid Ulster, Northern Ireland (1.11%)
- Blaenau Gwent, South East Wales (1.28%)
- Fermanagh and Omagh, Northern Ireland (1.36%)
- Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (1.37%)
- Causeway Coast and Glens, Northern Ireland (1.45%)
- Comhairle Nan Eilean Siar, Stornoway (1.45%)
- Derry City and Strabane, Northern Ireland (1.65%)
- Newry, Mourne and Down, Northern Ireland (1.66%)
- Ceredigion, Wales (1.66%)
- Rhondda Cynon Taff, South East Wales (1.73%)
Philip Wall, Director of Fleetcover, said: “Last year I noticed that we still had a long way to go, but with the recent rise of electric vehicle uptake across every local authority in the UK, I’m hopeful.
“I’m certain that the never-ending and sharp increases in the costs of fuel, which have massively impacted motorists, will have a bearing on people giving serious consideration to moving to more environmentally friendly modes of transport.
“Regardless of there being more interest in greener vehicles, there is still an issue with the number of electric charging points across the country, and that is something that needs to be urgently addressed.
“It’s also important to remember that electric and hybrid vehicles are significantly more expensive than petrol and diesel, and it’s unlikely that there will be the uptake required until prices come down and charging ports are more accessible.”
