The UK’s favourite electric car model is the Toyota Yaris, according to new research.

UK drivers licensed over half a million of them in the first three quarters of 2023.

Five other Toyota models ranked among Brits’ top ten favourite electric cars last year. Kia Niro, Tesla Model 3, Nissan Qashqai and Nissan LEAF are the only other car models featured in the ranking.

Avoiding the fossils

Analysis of the latest official licensing data suggests that there are three main alternatives to fossil-fuelled vehicles preferred by UK drivers: petrol-based hybrid electric vehicles (46.7%), battery electric vehicles (33.5%) and petrol-based plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (15.4%).

This is according to a new study from Howden Insurance, which analysed the latest data from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and the UK Department for Transport. It covers statistics on generic car models that have been officially licensed or have a Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) in the UK over the first three quarters of 2023. The study focuses on cars powered by fuels other than solely petrol, diesel or gas.

The Favourites

 There were 8,950,261 electric vehicles licensed in the UK between January and September 2023. This represents only 6.3% of all the 141,157,533 vehicles registered. Toyota Yaris ranked first overall among all types of electric vehicles, with over half a million cars licensed in nine months. This accounts for 5.8% of all electric cars licensed in the UK within this period.

In fact, Toyota manufactures six out of the top ten favourite electric cars in the UK. There were 343,507 Toyota Prius cars and 296,209 Toyota C-HR vehicles licensed in the UK in the first three quarters of 2023. These are Brits’ second and third favourite electric cars, with a 3.8% and 3.3% market share, respectively. Toyota’s other popular electric models include Corolla, Auris and RAV4.

Kia Niro ranked fourth in the UK’s favourite electric car models, with 3.2% of eco-conscious drivers opting for it. It is followed by Tesla Model 3 with a 3.1% market share and Nissan Qashqai, preferred by 2.6% of drivers seeking an electric alternative. Nissan LEAF also made the top ten UK’s favourite electric cars, with 166,941 models licensed in the first nine months of 2023. 

Top 10 electric cars

# Model generation Number of cars licensed in the UK in Q1-Q3 2023 % licensed among electric cars
1 Toyota Yaris  518,500 5.8
2 Toyota Prius  343,507 3.8
3 Toyota C-HR  296,209 3.3
4 Kia Niro  288,130 3.2
5 Tesla Model 3  273,622 3.1
6 Nissan Qashqai  231,863 2.6
7 Toyota Corolla  230,060 2.6
8 Toyota Auris  200,653 2.2
9 Toyota RAV4  188,152 2.1
10 Nissan LEAF  166,941 1.9

Green alternatives

Depending on the exact type of fuel that powers them, electric cars can be low-emission vehicles (LEVs) or ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs). The latter refers to vehicles emitting less than 75g of carbon dioxide (CO2) per km. ULEVs contain a subset classed as zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) with no CO2 emissions. UK drivers opting for greener alternatives preferred mainly petrol-based hybrid electric vehicles (46.7%), battery electric vehicles (33.5%) and petrol-based plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (15.4%).

Hybrid electric (petrol) – 46.7%

Among all electric cars licensed in the first nine months of 2023, UK drivers preferred hybrid electric cars, specifically with petrolengines. They account for 46.7% of all low-emission cars. Though still emitting CO2, hybrid cars, whether propelled by a petrol or diesel engine, charge their batteries while the vehicle runs on fuel.

Toyota reigns supreme for the most petrol hybrid electric cars recently licensed in the UK. The most popular models for this fuel type are mainly manufactured by Toyota, with the Yaris ranked first, followed by the Prius and the CH-R. Every eighth hybrid petrol car licensed in the UK in the first nine months of 2023 was a Toyota Yaris. Nissan Qashqai is the only model breaking an otherwise clear streak of success for Toyota in this fuel category. Kia Niro, Honda Jazz and Kia Sportage take the eighth, ninth and tenth place as the UK’s favourite hybrid electric-petrol cars. A total of 4,194,086 petrol-based hybrid electric vehicles were licensed with the DVLA from January to September last year.

Top 10 hybrid electric (petrol) 

# Model generation Number of cars licensed in the UK in Q1-Q3 2023 % licensed among cars with this fuel type
1 Toyota Yaris  518,500 12.4
2 Toyota Prius  328,186 7.8
3 Toyota C-Hr  296,209 7.1
4 Nissan Qashqai  231,863 5.5
5 Toyota Corolla  230,060 5.5
6 Toyota Auris  200,653 4.8
7 Toyota RAV4  173,096 4.1
8 Kia Niro  154,586 3.7
9 Honda Jazz  124,804 3.0
10 Kia Sportage  119,975 2.9

Battery electric – 33.5%

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) are UK drivers’ second favourite low-emission cars. Their motors are powered solely by rechargeable batteries through a mains connection, without relying on polluting fuels like petrol, diesel or gas. This puts them in the zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) subset of the larger ultra-low-emission vehicles category.

BEVs made up 33.5% of all cars recently registered in the UK among all low-emission vehicles. Tesla Model 3 ranked first in this category, accounting for 9.1% of all BEVs licensed in the first three quarters of 2023. Nissan LEAF takes the second spot, with a 5.6% market share, closely followed by the Tesla Model Y, representing 5.4% of all recently licensed BEVs in the UK. There were just under three million battery electric vehicles licensed in the UK during the first nine months of 2023.

Top 10 battery electric cars

# Model generation Number of cars licensed in the UK in Q1-Q3 2023 % licensed among cars with this fuel type
1 Tesla Model 3  273,622 9.1
2 Nissan LEAF  166,941 5.6
3 Tesla Model Y  163,216 5.4
4 Kia Niro  106,345 3.6
5 Volkswagen ID.3  93,809 3.1
6 Renault Zoe  83,534 2.8
7 Jaguar I-PACE  70,946 2.4
8 Audi e-tron  67,016 2.2
9 Hyundai Kona  66,267 2.2
10 MG ZS  61,207 2.0

 

Plug-in hybrid electric (petrol) – 15.4%

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) with petrol motors are the third favourite type of low-emission cars in the UK. They account for 15.4% of all the green vehicles licensed with DVLA between January and September 2023. “Plug-in” refers to the fact that, besides the electric battery charging while the car is running on fuel, this can also be done by connecting it to a mains electricity supply.

Every fifth PHEV with a petrol-propelled engine licensed in the first three quarters of 2023 was either a Mitsubishi Outlander or a BMW 3 Series. Every 20th was a Ford Kuga. UK drivers registered 1,376,009 petrol-based PHEV vehicles with the DVLA during this period.

Top 10 plug-in hybrid electric (petrol)

# Model generation Number of cars licensed in the UK in Q1-Q3 2023 % licensed among cars with this fuel type
1 Mitsubishi Outlander  146,716 10.7
2 BMW 3 Series  131,640 9.6
3 Ford Kuga  69,963 5.1
4 Volvo Xc40  52,684 3.8
5 BMW 5 Series  47,427 3.4
6 Mercedes A Class  46,878 3.4
7 Audi A3  44,067 3.2
8 Volkswagen Golf  43,487 3.2
9 Mini Countryman  40,842 3.0
10 Volvo Xc90  38,505 2.8

 

Fit for purpose

A spokesperson for Howden Insurance commented on the findings: “Battery electric cars are generally perceived as city cars since there is a limit to how far you can go before having to find a charging station. However, this is naturally changing as the infrastructure for it develops outside urban areas, in line with adoption rates of electric cars.

“It would be interesting to see how much of an impact the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London imposed in August 2023 had on the number of licences ULEVs during the last two quarters of 2023. Busy cities like London will continue to build their policies around discouraging personal car use in favour of public transport, so we could see other large cities adopting similar policies and a possible sudden surge of ULEZ-compliant cars.

“At the moment, if you manage the upfront costs, electric cars are much cheaper to run but more expensive to insure compared to those on a conventional internal combustion engine. This is due to a combination of factors like replacement parts being scarcer and garages needing more time and space to fix them. This is on track to change as more drivers switch to electric. Meanwhile, to cut costs, one simple step we recommend is renewing your car insurance three to four weeks before it expires, as this is precisely when insurance premiums are at their lowest. Certainly do not leave it for later than three weeks, else you will face the highest car insurance premiums.”

The study was conducted by Howden Insurance.