British electric car sales rose by a third in the first half of 2025 after the strongest June for overall car sales since before the Covid pandemic.

The number of battery electric car sales rose 34.6% to 224,838 units in the first six months of the year, according to preliminary data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), a lobby group.

New car sales rose 6.8% year-on-year in June to 191,200 units, the best sales figures for the month since 2019. A quarter of all June sales, or nearly 47,400, were electric.

Separate sales figures published by the thinktank New AutoMotive, suggested electric sales were buoyed in June compared with May by the launch of the new version of the Model Y from Tesla, which has remained the biggest electric car seller in the UK despite the controversy around the support for far-right politicians of its founder, Elon Musk. Ford achieved the fastest growth in UK electric car sales, New AutoMotive said.

The UK car industry has struggled to increase sales to pre-pandemic levels as potential buyers have been hit by the cost of living crisis after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

British car factories have also had to contend with a major slowdown in response to extra US tariffs of 25% announced by Donald Trump in March. UK car production last month fell to its lowest level for May since 1949 as manufacturers cut back shipments.

Those factories received respite on Monday when a lower tariff rate of 10% kicked in after a limited trade deal was agreed between the UK and US. The 10% rate will apply to the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the US.

Despite these difficulties, car sales have been rising over the course of 2025, although the industry has said the numbers have been flattered by discounts which it says are unsustainable. Discounts have been targeted particularly at electric car buyers as manufacturers try to meet targets set under the government’s zero-emission vehicle mandate.

So far in 2025 electric sales have made up 21.6% of all sales, the SMMT’s preliminary data suggested. That is below the 28% target, although “flexibilities” in the rules mean the effective target is significantly lower.

Dan Caesar, the chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK, a group lobbying for pro-electric vehicle policies, said the June figures were still encouraging.

“The robustness of battery EV sales as a percentage of the market demonstrates we’re in a new phase of uptake,” he said. “Savvy consumers see the trend, and the savings. Better and cheaper BEVs, in addition to genuine competition, should see sales in the second half continue to grow.”

New AutoMotive’s data also suggested that demand for electric vans had risen sharply. Electric van sales increased by 50% in the first half of 2025 compared with last year to account for one in every 10 sales.