UK electric car sales surge despite Covid lockdown Plug-in...

UK electric car sales surge despite Covid lockdown
Plug-in vehicle sales account for almost 14% of all new car sales in March

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Tesla’s Model 3 sold well in March despite stores being closed during the Covid lockdown. Photograph: David Rawcliffe/Alamy Stock Photo/Alamy Stock Photo

Juliette Garside
@JulietteGarside
Tue 6 Apr 2021 10.55 BST



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UK electric and hybrid car sales hit record levels in March, traditionally the biggest month of the year for motor dealers, as demand for greener vehicles surged despite overall trade remaining lower than before the pandemic.
Sales of battery electric cars and plug-in hybrids accounted for a combined 13.9% of the market, up from 7.3% a year earlier, in a sign of the accelerating switch to cars with lower carbon exhaust emissions, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Buyers picked up 22,000 electric cars and another 17,000 plug-in hybrids, which combine a battery with an internal combustion engine.