Sales of electric and electrified vehicles (with hybrid powertrains) continue to grow in the UK. However, there’s still a long way to go before vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICE) no longer run on roads. As this chart of the vehicle population for 2023 shows, 92.3% of vehicles in use (including commercial vehicles) are still ICE vehicles.
Nevertheless, the government’s push to switch motorists to electric vehicles does have a positive effect on air quality. Despite a record number of motor vehicles on the road, average car carbon dioxide emissions dropped by 2.1%, while company car emissions reduced by 11.5%, thanks to compelling incentives encouraging fleets to invest in EVs and manufacturer investment in new lower and zero emission models.
Preliminary figures indicate that average annual concentrations of harmful nitrogen dioxide in London also dropped to the lowest levels ever recorded in 2023, lower even than the first year of COVID-19 lockdowns.
2023 was also the first year since records began when annual mean particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations did not exceed the latest interim World Health Organization (WHO) air quality target across London’s active air quality monitoring sites.
While overall EV use continues to grow, with 1.6 million electrified PHEV cars, vans, trucks and buses in operation, public charging facilities are still lagging. There is still just one standard public charger available for every 35 electrified cars on the road, only a slight improvement from one for every 36 in 2022.
Electrification trend is clear in Wards 2023 10 Best Engines & Propulsion Systems
