Tesla UK sales rebound with one in four new cars now an EV

After months of lacklustre showroom performance, Tesla is once again thriving in the UK sales charts after what has been described as a “bumper” month for new registrations, with one in four new cars sold being an EV.

In June, the Tesla Model Y was the UK’s best-selling electric car and the third-most popular car in general, closely followed by the Model 3 saloon, which was the sixth-most registered car last month.

This comes after months and months of poor sales for Tesla; in May, Elon Musk’s EV brand was outperformed by the likes of BYD and Dacia. However, while Tesla’s market share is still down marginally from 2.29 per cent to 2.18 per cent year-to-date, it remains ahead of the aforementioned competition. 

Tesla also admits that its sales do tend to peak towards the end of a quarter, whenever shipments arrive from its Gigafactory in Berlin, while many of this month’s registrations are pre-orders for the newly facelifted Model Y, which is just starting to trickle on to UK roads.

Nevertheless, outside the UK, Tesla isn’t faring so well; the firm recently reported that worldwide sales had dipped for the second quarter in a row, down 14 per cent year-on-year. And things could get worse, with President Donald Trump threatening to cut Tesla’s government subsidies as part of his ongoing feud with CEO Musk following his exit from the US Department of Government Efficiency.

Back on this side of the pond, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic for the UK’s EV market; in June, one in four (24.8 per cent) of new cars registered were fully electric, adding up to 21.6 per cent year-to-date. While this is still behind the 28 per cent demanded by the UK’s ZEV Mandate, it does represent a massive 34.6 per cent jump year-on-year. UK car registrations as a whole are also up 6.7 per cent year-on-year in June, with the Ford Puma retaining its position as the nation’s favourite choice of car.

All of this comes at a cost, though, as the UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has warned that since the beginning of the ZEV Mandate in 2024, the industry has spent as much as £6.5 billion on consumer incentives as a way to artificially boost demand for EVs.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the growth in popularity of EVs is “good news”, but added that the market “is still being driven by substantial industry support with manufacturers using every channel and unsustainable discounting to drive activity, yet it remains below mandated levels”.

The SMMT has frequently called on the Government to implement state-backed incentives, much like the Plug-in Car Grant which was discontinued in 2022. Hawes said: “Government incentives can supercharge the market transition, without which the climate change ambitions we all share will be under threat.”

However, even Hawes recently admitted to Auto Express that the industry’s wishes are “rather optimistic” – especially with the Government’s recent U-turns on disability benefits and winter fuel payments, which will both result in hits to the public purse.

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