Electric cars: This is the EV take-up in Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex as north-south divide emerges in UK

A north-south divide is opening up in Britain’s adoption of electric cars, exclusive analysis by NationalWorld has revealed.

Take-up of electric and hybrid vehicles is four times higher in London than in the North East with the capital also having four times the number of charging points, per 100,000 residents, than Yorkshire and the Humber.

With world leaders under immense pressure to step up climate action to tackle dangerous global warming at the COP26 summit, pressure groups have called on the Government to make urgent investments in Britain’s green transport infrastructure.

One of the biggest aims of COP26, now taking place in Glasgow, is to reduce emissions rapidly through phasing out fossil fuels, planting trees and boosting the take-up of electric cars.

NationalWorld analysed official figures on ultra low emission vehicles (ULEV) to see how different parts of the UK compared. The figures include battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric, and fuel cell electric vehicles.

In London, one in every 40 vehicles (2.3%) is now electric or hybrid - and the South East (2%) and South West (1.79%) also fare better than the rest of the UK in terms of the proportion of vehicles which are now electric.

But how do Crawley, Horsham and Mid Sussex compare to the UKL average of 1.42%?

Crawley

463 ultra low emission vehicles are registered (July 2021) in Crawley, 296 of which are registered to private owners (rather than fleet cars).

The total vehicles registered as of the end of 2020 (latest available), was 61,400 - making the percentage of ultra low emission vehicles 0.75%, ranking Crawley 190th out of 381 local authorities in the UK.

Horsham

1,227 ultra low emission vehicles are registered (July 2021) in Horsham, 1,018 of which are registered to private owners (rather than fleet cars).

The total vehicles registered as of the end of 2020 (latest available), was 106,300 - making the percentage of ultra low emission vehicles 1.15%, ranking Horsham 105th out of 381 local authorities in the UK.

Mid Sussex

1,2347 ultra low emission vehicles are registered (July 2021) in Mid Sussex, 997 of which are registered to private owners (rather than fleet cars).

The total vehicles registered as of the end of 2020 (latest available), was 100,500 - making the percentage of ultra low emission vehicles 1.23%, ranking Mid Sussex 88th out of 381 local authorities in the UK.

Charging points

In terms of access to charging points across England and Wales, thirteen of the top 20 council areas are in London, analysis of official data shows.

Top of the list is Westminster, with 392 charging points per 100,000 residents.