One-in-seven new UK cars is sold with a plug - as either a full electric (BEV) or plug-in hybrid (PHEV). The stat comes from new car industry stats released covering April 2021 trade as car showrooms re-opened. 

The information released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveals that out of over 141,000 new car registrations in April, over 30,000 were full battery EVs, plug-in hybrids or hybrids - just under 22 percent of the market. 

Within that, 9,000 were full BEVs, with just under 10,000 PHEVs sold. The remainder - nearly 12,000 - were non-plug-in hybrids (HEVs). PHEVs being more popular than BEVs last month is due to cuts in the Plug-in Car Grant according to SMMT. It also says that monthly BEV purchases were down compared with the first part of 2021 overall since they had been amounting to 7.5% of total registrations.

The amount of new cars sold were up hugely year-on-year, but it's not surprising when you consider that showrooms were closed this time in 2020 for obvious reasons. However, SMMT says the impact of showrooms reopening hasn't yet been seen fully, due to the amount of time between an initial customer visit and a new car delivery to that customer.