EVs are officially covering more miles than ICE cars

Electric cars have eased ahead of their internal combustion-engined rivals in terms of the mileage they’re driven each year.

According to data specialists Solera cap hpi, the average distance driven annually by a typical EV has risen from 6,355 miles back in 2015 to 8,740 miles a decade later in 2025. That means, on average, EV drivers are putting 444 more miles under their belts than the drivers of petrol or diesel-powered cars. Cap hpi says its calculations are based on data garnered from trade sales, which average out at more than 1.8 million transactions annually.

While the EVs’ gains reflect rapidly improving technology, the greater availability of charge points and increased availability of electric models - in 2015 the EV options were primarily small cars - the company also points out that the mileage driven by petrol cars has been falling since the pandemic. In fact the average annual petrol mileage is down 12 per cent over the decade, which among other things Cap hpi attributes to more home working reducing the need for commutes, and the rise of online shopping, meaning cars are left on the drive more often.

“Our data reveals that people in the UK are driving increasingly fewer miles now than they were 10 years ago. It also shows that EV motorists now travel further in their cars than drivers of petrol cars, and have been doing so consistently for almost two years,” says company head of forecast strategy Dylan Setterfield. “By generating average mileage data such as this for the whole of the UK, Solera cap hpi is helping motorists to get the full picture of how car use is changing in line with advancing technology, rising fuel costs, growing environmental awareness and how we have generally become less reliant on cars.”

It’s not just the UK where EVs are continuing to make inroads against petrol models. Latest figures from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) show sales of electric cars grew by 28 per cent in the first two months of 2025, with Germany showing a 41 per cent increase, Belgium 38 per cent and the Netherlands 25 per cent. In France though, EV sales dropped by 1.3 per cent, and overall new-car sales have been hit hard across Europe. Registrations plummeted by around a quarter in France and Germany, and there was an overall decline across Europe of 22.4 per cent for petrol cars and 28.8 per cent for diesel.

Here in the UK, consumers and the car industry are waiting to hear the government’s response to its consultation on changes to the ZEV Mandate, which would bring the ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars forward to 2030, with many hoping for a new package of incentives to accelerate demand of EVs.

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