Vehicle licensing statistics: January to March 2020


Organisation: Department for Transport
Date uploaded: 14th July 2020
Date published/launched: June 2021


The number of ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) registered for the first time more than doubled in the first quarter of 2020, despite the impact of Covid-19.34,115 new ULEVs were registered in the UK between January and March – a year-on-year rise of 113%.In total, ULEVs accounted for 5.6% of all new vehicle registrations in Q1 2020 – up from 1.8% the previous year.

Looking specifically at cars, 31,655 new ultra-low registrations were made in Q1 2020 – a year-on-year rise of 116%.

In terms of the fuel type, there was a 204% rise in the number of battery electric cars registered for the first time – and a 58% rise in plug-in hybrid electric cars.

For the year ending March 2020, the most common generic model of ULEV registered for the first time in the UK was the Tesla Model 3 with 16,014 vehicles, followed by the BMW 3 Series (6,823 vehicles) and the Nissan Leaf (6,485 vehicles).

The rise in ULEVs comes against a 30% year-on-year fall in the total number of new registrations.

The number of diesel cars registered for the first time in Great Britain during 2020 Q1 declined by 45% compared to 2019 Q1, with petrol cars declining by 34%.

The DfT has attributed the large decreases in new vehicle registrations to the measures implemented towards the end of March 2020 to limit the impact of the Covid-19.

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