Britain is selling electric vehicles at a record pace, yet the country remains on course to miss its mandatory zero emission car targets for 2026.
One in four new cars sold now runs on battery power alone, a historic high, but still below the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle mandate threshold.
A total of 160,662 new cars were registered last month, with 43,931 of those running entirely on electric power, representing a 27.3 per cent market share.
That figure marks a 34.2 per cent increase on the 32,738 electric cars registered in May 2025, yet it still falls short of the 33 per cent share ministers have demanded this year.
So far in 2026, pure electric cars account for just 23.9 per cent of all registrations, a 10 per cent miss on the mandatory annual target set by government.
Petrol and diesel cars still make up 45.9 per cent of new registrations, with petrol and diesel-electric hybrids accounting for a further 27.4 per cent of the market.
More than seven in ten new cars sold still require a petrol or diesel pump, despite every available government lever being pulled to accelerate the transition.
Manufacturers have responded to the shortfall by leaning heavily on discounts, with the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders estimating average EV discounts of around £11,000 per car in 2025.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes described the current pace of adoption as “unsustainable” as the ZEV target rises to 33 per cent this year, placing further pressure on already thinned margins.
Hawes said that while “the EV transition is still progressing”, consumer preference “still lags behind even today’s targets, let alone the ambition set out in the latest Carbon Budget.”
Government grants, company-car tax breaks, and substantial manufacturer discounts are all being applied simultaneously, yet consumer demand continues to fall short of what the mandate requires.
The widening gap between regulatory ambition and real-world purchasing behaviour raises serious questions about whether Britain’s net-zero transport goals remain achievable on the current timeline.