Manufacturers aren’t selling enough electric cars, and that’s excellent news for buyers
Editor Paul Barker explains why serious EV discounts are now starting to appear on the market
As we head into the final quarter of 2025, some brands will be eyeing their electric-vehicle sales and how close they are to Government targets. And that means there should be some enticing deals around.
For every main car company, 28 per cent of its UK sales in 2025 have to be EVs to avoid hefty fines. But over the first eight months of the year, the actual figure was well off the target, at 21.9 per cent. Although the most recent August figures were as high as 26.5 per cent, that’s not going to drag things up fast enough.
Within that overall average, there will be winners and losers; some brands are selling well over 30 per cent EVs, which means others must be a distance off – and they will be under massive pressure to close that gap before the end of 2025. In 2024, the target was ‘only’ 22 per cent, yet there were lots of deals to be had on a new EV as the year came to a close. But the ramp-up of this target still isn’t in line with genuine consumer demand, so there’s going to have to be some artificial forcing of sales to dodge fines.
Nosing through our parent brand Carwow’s deals, there are already dozens of highly recommendable EVs with thousands off their list price. They include models that also qualify for the Electric Car Grant, which has kick-started a price war that is definitely benefitting consumers, if not manufacturers’ balance sheets.
Brands such as Hyundai and Kia, which don’t yet quality for the grant, and Chinese firms that seem to have been deliberately shut out by the scheme, have brought in their own incentives to match the grant to stay competitive. The grant announcement has boosted interest in EVs, but, as Hyundai’s European boss Xavier Martinet recently said, you need to give incentives to be competitive against cars such as the Ford Puma Gen-E, which qualifies for the full £3,750 grant off the list price. Otherwise, consumers will just flock to the Ford – which is not a bad decision. Other less price-competitive brands won’t hit the 28 per cent EV share required to dodge some pretty punitive penalties.
The Vehicle Remarketing Association put out some intelligence last week suggesting that “widespread” pre-registering of electric cars by manufacturers will be taking place before the end of the year. That will mean plenty of bargains to be had by consumers who can be flexible about going for a deal, maybe not on a model or a spec that was their top choice.
Pre-registered cars will already have one owner – usually a dealer – on the registration document, but only a handful of miles, so they’re one of the real bargain areas of the new-car market, especially as desperation kicks in for those brands that are still short of meeting their EV targets.
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