Electric vehicles have taken another record monthly share of the UK’s new car market according to the latest figures released by car industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. 

Over 27% of May’s 160,000 new cars were electric says the SMMT, with EV numbers growing by a third on the same month in 2025. 

In the year to date figures EVs have taken nearly a quarter of the new car market, with over 220,000 new electric cars on the roads in the first five months of 2026. 

The boost to electric cars is partly down to the fact that more cars have been added to the UK government’s list of EVs eligible for the electric car grant (like the Kia EV4 above), but largely down to demand boosted by high oil prices. 

Since Donald Trump’s US forces attacked Iran at the end of February, the supply of oil and gas from a beleaguered Middle East region has led to increased petrol and diesel prices as well as a 13% jump in the energy price cap for the three months from July. 

Buyers are increasingly looking to electric cars as a way to save some money on their monthly household bills (check out our fuel savings calculator), with the initial purchase boosted by the electric car grant and the fact that EV prices are starting to equalise with their petrol equivalents.

Electrifying.com founder Ginny Buckley has welcomed the latest figures and the signal that EV demand is sending: “The latest figures should finally put to bed the myth that drivers don’t want electric cars.

“Car buyers aren’t choosing EVs to make a statement, it’s because they’re cheaper to run, enjoyable to drive and less exposed to the volatile global oil prices that can send fuel costs soaring overnight. 

“It’s time to stop talking about electric cars as an ‘alternative’, because these numbers put EVs firmly in the mainstream of the UK car market.”