The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have today published their report on the UK’s used car market in 2024, showing that the demand for used EVs has leapt from the previous year.
Overall, the second-hand car market has continued to thrive, growing 5.5% year-on-year, following eight consecutive quarters of growth.
A total of 7,643,180 second hand vehicles were sold last year, 188,382 of those being EVs. The figure is 57.4% up on the previous year, as more used EVs enter the market.
As a share of the overall market, EVs still lag well behind combustion engined cars, with just 2.5% of used cars sold being emission-free but this represents a climb on the 2023 share of 1.7%. Five years earlier this figure was 0.2%.
One in three (32.3%) cars sold in the used sector were superminis, with lower medium cars (compacts) taking a 27.1% share of the market.
SMMT warn however that continued growth in the sales of EVs can’t be taken for granted, given the fact that from April, many new BEVs will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty and the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS), which they point out will drastically increasing ownership costs during the first six years of a vehicle’s use and therefore likely to impact on the used market.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: ‘Affordability remains a major barrier to switch amid stubbornly higher EV and battery production costs. In the absence of meaningful fiscal incentives to encourage uptake, particularly in the private retail sector, manufacturers are being forced to discount heavily to bridge the gap between natural demand and those mandated by regulation.
‘That’s why we must ensure every lever is pulled to encourage consumers – especially private consumers who lack incentives – to make the switch. And it’s why the forthcoming change to Vehicle Excise Duty placed on EVs is the wrong measure, at the wrong time.
‘It is not the fact that EV drivers will now have to pay road tax but that most of them will be liable for the Expensive Car Supplement – an additional £3,110 tax bill across the first six years after purchasing a new EV above £40,000. That threshold has been unchanged for eight years and applying it to EVs risks discouraging more motorists, in both the new and used markets, from switching.’
There has been increased interest in mobility scooters run on lead acid batteries, At the same time these are getting more like small cars. If you only want to go 15miles or so a small lead/ acid powered car is really economic both for the owner and for the environment. Also you can extend the range by taking a couple of lead acid batteries with you.
Maybe this could be the next innovation for the EV industry.