Victory for voltage as electric cars fly off UK forecourts in June

Highlighting the impact the current surge in fuel prices is having on consumer buying behaviour, Auto Trader’s market data shows used electric cars are flying off UK forecourts. Not only are they currently the fastest fuel type to sell, taking an average of just 27 days, compared to 33 and 35 days for used petrol and diesel cars respectively, but of the top 10 fastest selling used cars this month, 70% are fully electric. In fact, the top seven are EVs, with the MINI Electric, Tesla Model 3, MG MG5 and the Hyundai IONIQ 5 all sharing June’s top spot, each taking an average of just 24 days to sell, ahead of the current national average of 31 days.

 

Just three traditionally fuelled cars made it onto the list, but in a stark contrast with this time last year, none are diesel powered. In June 2021, seven of the top ten were diesel, two were petrol, and one was a petrol hybrid – not one pure EV made it onto the list. In fact, the highest ranked EV in June 2021, was a Kia Niro, which came in at number 86. The findings are consistent with wider trends on the Auto Trader marketplace: based on the volume of advert views and searches, last week saw demand for EVs increase 65% on the same period last year, versus a -22% and -29% decline for petrol and diesel respectively.

According to Auto Trader’s data, the volume of nearly new cars (those less than 12 months old) in the market has fallen -53% in June versus this time last year, which is the lowest of any other age cohort, and by some margin. As a result, all but two of the current top 10 falls within this age group, which are being eagerly snapped up by desperate would be new buyers.