Direct answer: electric cars are not failing in Britain. In September 2026 alone, 99,201 new battery-electric cars were registered, a record monthly figure and 36.3% more than a year earlier. The problem is that the market is still running behind the government targets manufacturers are expected to meet, and a large part of the growth is being supported by heavy discounts and incentives that the industry says cannot continue indefinitely.
That distinction matters, because the debate around electric cars has become far too binary. Depending on who you listen to, either the EV transition is racing ahead and anybody who questions the policy is stuck in the past, or electric cars are being rejected by the public and the whole thing is doomed.
I do not think either version is particularly helpful. The latest figures suggest something more complicated, and more interesting, is happening. British motorists are buying electric cars in far greater numbers, but we are trying to force that demand to grow even faster than it naturally would. At the same time, we are beginning to add new taxes and costs that could make the next stage of the transition harder.
September was a genuinely big month for electric cars
The latest SMMT figures are impressive. The UK new-car market grew by 12.0% in September to 350,536 registrations, making it the strongest September since 2017. Private registrations were up 13.9%, which is important because this was not simply another month driven entirely by large fleets.
Battery-electric cars accounted for 99,201 registrations, up 36.3% year on year and giving them a 28.3% share of the market for the month. Plug-in hybrids grew even faster, up 55.5%, while petrol registrations fell by 6.7%.
Across the first nine months of 2026, 454,947 battery-electric cars were registered. That is 30.2% more than at the same point in 2025 and gives BEVs a 26.2% share of the new-car market.
Those are not the numbers of a technology nobody wants. They show a market changing quickly.
There is also far more choice. SMMT says the number of battery-electric models available in the UK has more than doubled since 2023, with 178 now on sale. Add plug-in hybrids and conventional hybrids and more than three quarters of new cars available in Britain are now electrified in some form.
As somebody who spends a lot of time around new cars, I can see why. The electric cars coming to market now are simply better than many of the early options. There is more choice at different price points, ranges are improving, charging is getting faster and some of the most interesting new cars I have driven recently happen to be electric.
So why is the industry sounding worried?
Because strong growth is not the same thing as meeting the Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate.
The headline target for cars in 2026 is 33%. Yet after nine months, battery-electric cars accounted for 26.2% of registrations. SMMT estimates that, based on its latest market forecast, around 265,000 additional BEVs would need to be registered in the final quarter to reach a 33% share across the year.
Manufacturers have ways of complying with the rules beyond simply hitting the headline percentage, so the target should not be interpreted as a straightforward pass or fail number. But the gap still matters because manufacturers are being pushed to stimulate demand much faster than the market might otherwise move.
That has consequences for consumers.
Discounting has helped make EVs more affordable, but it cannot be the whole strategy
SMMT says manufacturers have supported the EV transition with more than £10 billion of discounts over the first two years of the Mandate. That is an extraordinary amount of money.
For buyers, some of that has been very welcome. Electric cars that once looked expensive against an equivalent petrol or hybrid model have become much more competitive through manufacturer contributions, finance offers, leasing support and tactical discounts.
But there is a problem if the only way to get enough cars onto the road is for manufacturers to keep spending billions to make them artificially cheaper.
Heavy discounting can affect profitability, but it can also feed through into residual values. If a new car is repeatedly discounted, the used market has to adjust. That matters to anyone financing, leasing or eventually selling an EV because future values are a fundamental part of the monthly cost.
I am all for competitive deals. Consumers should benefit when manufacturers compete. What I do not think is healthy is a system that depends on increasingly large incentives simply to make regulation and natural demand meet in the middle.
The frustrating part is that policy is beginning to pull in two directions
This is where I think the current approach becomes difficult to defend.
On one side, government policy is designed to accelerate the switch to electric cars. There is an Electric Car Grant, the ZEV Mandate requires manufacturers to increase EV sales and public charging continues to expand.
On the other side, the tax advantages of going electric are gradually being reduced.
From April 2028, battery-electric cars will face the new Electric Vehicle Excise Duty, or eVED, charged at 3p per mile. A driver covering 10,000 miles a year would therefore pay around £300 before ordinary Vehicle Excise Duty.
Public and workplace charging is also confirmed as being subject to 20% VAT from 1 November 2026. That is especially frustrating for people who cannot charge at home, because domestic electricity receives much more favourable tax treatment.
There is some positive news. Budget 2026 includes support intended to reduce the cost of lower-powered local public charging, with the government estimating average savings of around £150 a year for drivers who rely on it. I welcome that, and I wrote more about the wider motoring changes in my Autumn Budget 2026 guide for motorists.
But the overall message still feels confused. We are telling motorists to switch faster, while slowly making the financial case for switching less obvious.
I do not think EVs need to be tax-free forever
There is an important point here. I am not arguing that electric-car drivers should never contribute towards road taxation.
As fuel-duty receipts fall, government will need another way to raise revenue from road users. A mileage-based system is not inherently unreasonable, particularly if it can eventually replace some of the increasingly complicated layers of motoring tax.
My concern is timing and complexity. EV drivers already pay VED. More expensive electric cars can attract the Expensive Car Supplement. Public charging carries 20% VAT. Company-car tax is rising over time. From 2028, eVED then adds a mileage charge on top.
Individually, each policy can be explained. Put together, they risk weakening the very consumer proposition that government regulation is simultaneously trying to accelerate.
The industry also matters because it affects what we pay for cars
SMMT's warning is not only about sales. UK vehicle production rose by 36.3% in September to 74,031 units, but that comparison was heavily influenced by disruption a year earlier. Output across the year remained 3.0% lower.
There are also concerns around future UK-EU trading rules and access to Europe's automotive market. That can sound like distant industrial policy, but it eventually feeds into the cars consumers can buy, where they are built, what they cost and whether manufacturers choose to invest here.
A healthy car market is not simply about keeping manufacturers happy. Competition, manufacturing investment and predictable regulation all influence prices, finance offers, model availability, jobs and the strength of the used market.
The transition is working, but that does not mean the policy is perfect
This is probably the part of the EV debate where nuance disappears most quickly.
Questioning the Mandate does not automatically mean opposing electric cars. Equally, strong EV sales do not prove that every element of the policy is working perfectly.
The numbers show that motorists are switching. Nearly 455,000 new BEVs were registered in the first nine months of 2026. September delivered the highest monthly volume the UK has ever seen. Private demand across the whole new-car market is also rising.
That is real progress.
But if manufacturers need to spend billions on discounts to keep the trajectory moving, while taxes and charging costs start eroding the ownership case, it is reasonable to ask whether we are making the next stage harder than necessary.
What I think government should do next
The ZEV Mandate review needs to focus less on whether Britain should electrify and more on how to make the transition durable.
I would rather see policy concentrate on the things that make people genuinely want to choose an EV: competitive purchase prices, reliable charging, fair charging costs for people without driveways, predictable taxation and better consumer information.
Give buyers confidence that an electric car will fit into their life and the market will keep growing. Make the rules and taxes increasingly complicated, and you risk turning a positive technology choice into a political or financial calculation.
I have driven enough EVs now, from small city cars to long-range motorway machines, to think they already make sense for a lot of people. My 580-mile trip in a short-range BYD Dolphin Surf convinced me that even modest-range electric cars are more usable than many people assume.
But the right car still depends on how somebody drives, where they live and whether they can charge conveniently. Regulation cannot remove those realities.
My verdict
I think the most important thing to take from the latest figures is that the EV transition is not failing. In many respects, it is going remarkably well. Record volumes, rapidly expanding choice and stronger private demand are all encouraging signs.
The danger is that we mistake rapid progress for proof that the market can absorb any target, tax or cost placed on it.
Consumers do not buy targets. They buy cars that suit their lives and budgets.
If government wants more people to choose electric, it should make that decision increasingly easy and attractive. Manufacturers cannot be expected to bridge every gap with discounts forever, and motorists should not be asked to switch faster while the financial advantages are simultaneously being chipped away.
The destination is becoming clearer. I am much less convinced that we have yet found the best route to get there.