Sales mandates from the UK government have helped spur the uptake of EVs in the country.

The UK has overtaken Germany as Europe’s top market for electric vehicles (EVs), newly released information has shown.

According to data published yesterday (6 January) by the KBA, Germany’s motoring regulator, registrations of new, fully EVs in Germany fell more than a quarter to 380,609 last year. This is in comparison to the 381,970 sold in the UK, where EV registrations increased by 21pc.

In Germany, EVs made up 13.5pc of registrations in 2024, while in the UK they made up nearly 20pc of new registrations.

The news is indicative of the turbulent past year that the EV industry in Europe has experienced. Last November, motoring giant Ford announced that it would cut 4,000 jobs in Europe by the end of 2027 due to disappointing EV sales and new competition.

These layoffs will reportedly include 2,900 jobs in Germany (a country which has already seen subsidy cuts and a pause in new EV model launches), as well as 800 job losses in the UK.

And in September, EV battery manufacturer Northvolt announced that it was laying off 25pc of its Swedish employees.

Battery-powered cars have flourished in the UK in recent months, due to the UK government announcing the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate last year, which is a roadmap for transitioning all new cars and vans sold to be zero emissions by 2035.

As a result of this mandate, vehicle manufacturers in the UK have to make sure that a certain percentage of all their new sales are ZEVs, otherwise they could face fines of as much as £15,000 per vehicle sold that doesn’t comply with the mandate.

Last month, the UK government gave car manufacturers eight weeks to submit their views on the phase-out of new gasoline and diesel cars.

A surge in December sales helped to bolster EVs’ overall share of the UK car market to 19.6pc for the year, with price cuts continuing as manufacturers tried to meet the sales quota to avoid fines. However, it should be noted that this percentage is still behind the 22pc target, and pressure will likely continue to rise as the target increases to 28pc this year.

In Ireland, the number of new EV cars registered dropped by nearly 24pc last year compared to the previous year.

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