Mitsubishi Outlander remains the most popular electric vehicle on UK roads

The most common plug-in vehicle on UK roads is still the Mitsubishi Outlander, according the to the latest DVLA data.

There were 32,048 of the plug-in hybrid versions of the vehicle licensed at the end of 2017, with the pure electric Nissan Leaf of (19,624) the next most popular plug-in.

The BMW 330e (9,143) in third place pushed the BMW i3 and i3s into fourth (9,024), while the Mercedes-Benz C350e (8,867) was in fifth place.

At the end of 2017, there were a total of 126,857 cars and vans licensed in the UK that are, or have been, eligible for the Government’s plug-in grant schemes, according to analysis of DVLA data by the RAC Foundation.

This is 9% higher than the 116,534 on the road at the end of the previous quarter (Q3 2017) and 52% higher than the 83,224 on the road a year earlier (Q4 2016).

The five models which saw the largest percentage increases in numbers between Q3 and Q4 were:

Make and Model	% change over quarter	Increase in number of vehicles over quarter
Mini Countryman PHEV	154.99%	575
BMW 530e	61.50%	722
Volkswagen Passat GTE	47.34%	516
Audi Q7 e-tron	34.62%	90
Hyundai IONIQ EV	27.62%	66

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “These numbers show there has been solid, if not explosive, growth in the ultra-low emission car market, with some reports suggesting that public demand is outstripping the ability of the auto companies to supply enough of the latest models.

“Of the grant-eligible vehicles on the road the plug-in hybrids continue to outnumber the pure battery-electric cars, at the end of 2017 by three to two.

“Crucially, those drivers looking to visit the showrooms in the coming months, tempted by the new models on offer, will be asking whether the current level of Government grant will be maintained and for how long.”

Vehicles that are, or have been, eligible for the Government’s plug-in car and van grant schemes and which were on the road in the UK at the end of Q4 2017 (the most recent date for which figures are available).

For example, the Audi Q7, BMW i8, Mercedes S500 Hybrid and Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid are no longer eligible for the grant because they have a recommended retail price over £60,000, which puts them outside the current scheme.

Rank	Make and model	Q4 2017	Q3 2017	Q2 2017	Q1 2017
1	Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (all variants)	32,048	31,002	29,408	27,677
2	Nissan Leaf	19,624	18,922	17,352	16,501
3	BMW 330e	9,143	7,402	6,039	4,873
4	BMW i3 and i3s (of which are the Range extender version)	9,024 (6,437)	8,365 (6056)	7,597 (5,464)	6,798 (4,903)
5	Mercedes-Benz C350e	8,867	8,634	7,724	6,855
6	Tesla Model S	6,972	6,217	5,575	5,172
7	Renault Zoe	5,751	5,729	5,432	5,212
8	Volkswagen Golf GTE	5,411	4,384	3,595	3,341
9	Volvo Xc90 T8 Twin Engine	3,338	2,979	2,522	2,184
10	Nissan e-NV200 (all variants)	2,639	2,598	2,324	2,150
11	Audi A3 e-tron	2,402	2,348	2,084	1,961
12	Tesla Model X	2,114	1,686	1,112	666
13	Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid	2,087	2,005	1,889	1,785
14	BMW 530e	1,896	1,174	404	29
15	BMW i8	1,763	1,719	1,711	1,641
16	Volkswagen Passat GTE	1,606	1,090	704	447
17	BMW 225xe	1,458	1,157	949	771
18	Vauxhall Ampera	1,269	1,265	1,266	1,282
19	Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid	1,074	946	636	513
20	Mini Countryman PHEV	946	371	128	-
21	Renault Kangoo ZE	929	904	876	864
22	Mercedes-Benz E350 e	901	820	583	271
23	Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid (all variants)	785	759	725	701
24	Mercedes-Benz B-Class Electric Drive	481	489	488	425
25	Kia Soul EV	465	377	328	288
26	Peugeot Ion	426	426	421	418
27	Kia Optima Saloon PHEV	397	339	312	299
28	Audi Q7 e-tron	350	260	181	79
29	Smart ForTwo Electric Drive (EQ)	324	260	228	210
30	Hyundai IONIQ PHEV	314	188	-
31	Hyundai IONIQ EV	305	239	224	-
32	Kia Niro PHEV	289	137	-
33	Mitsubishi i-Miev	258	261	257	257
34	Citroen C-Zero	232	233	230	227
35	Volkswagen e-Golf	224	189	147	137
36	Volkswagen e-up!	187	176	171	167
37	Chevrolet Volt	120	120	118	119
38	Mercedes-Benz S500 Hybrid	118	121	121	121
39	Renault Fluence	72	71	73	75
40	Smart ForFour Electric Drive (EQ)	71	27	11
41	Citroen Berlingo EV	66	61	51	45
42	Toyota Mirai	44	41	32	30
43	Volvo S90 Twin Engine	28	1	-
44	Ford Focus Electric	17	19	22	21
45	Mia (all variants)	14	14	14	13
46	Daimler Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell	7	9	9	11
47	LECV TX (Taxi)	1
48	BYD e6	-	-	-	-
=	BD Otomotiv eTraffic	-	-	-	-
=	BD Otomotiv eDucato	-	-	-	-
=	Peugeot ePartner	-	-	-	-
=	Smith Electric Smith Edison	-	-	-	-
=	Mahindra e20	-	-	-	-
=	LDV EV80 (all variants)		-
	Total	126,857	116,534	104,073	94,636

Note: Some of the vehicles above might have been bought without the grant. Some might be licensed to manufacturers and dealers rather than customers. The total number licensed is below the total number of grants claimed because of the lag between an order being placed and the car being delivered.