The Electric Car Scheme has revealed the top 10 most popular EVs ordered through its salary sacrifice scheme in 2023, as well as its predictions for 2024 and where it thinks government action is needed to drive EV uptake.

The Tesla Model Y was the firm’s most-ordered EV through its sal-sac scheme in 2023

While Tesla may have lost its crown as the top-selling global EV automaker to BYD in Q4 2023, its dominance of the UK market looks set to continue, according to the best sellers via the firm’s salary sacrifice scheme.

Top 10 EVs by Model

• Tesla Model Y
• BMW i4
• MG4
• Tesla Model 3
• Audi Q4
• Cupra Born
• Kia EV6
• Škoda Enyaq
• Audi Q8
• Polestar 2

Top 10 EVs by Brand

• Tesla
• BMW
• MG
• Audi
• Kia
• Cupra
• Volvo
• Skoda
• Polestar
• Nissan

Alongside the data for 2023, The Electric Car Scheme has predicted that Tesla will continue to dominate the EV market in the UK, with the Tesla Model 3 Highland taking top spot and the Model Y not far behind in third.

2024 Top 10 Predictions

• Tesla Model 3 Highland
• BMW i4
• Tesla Model Y
• Volvo EX30
• Polestar 2 2024
• Audi A6 E-Tron
• Renault 5 E-Tech
• Range Rover Electric
• Volkswagen ID.5
• MG Cyberster

While the number of fully electric vehicles on UK roads is predicted to reach one million this month, Thom Groot, co-founder of The Electric Car Scheme, has given his view on how the Government can encourage mass adoption of EVs in 2024:

“The price of EVs must drop dramatically. Mass adoption during a cost-of-living crisis will be impossible if fossil fuel cars remain so much cheaper to initially buy – and our research suggests that even younger generations very worried about climate change won’t pay more than 29.8%. Thankfully there are already signs of this happening. A whole host of manufacturers in China are building cheap and reliable electric cars, and the second-hand market of cars that are currently in the leasing or fleet market is starting to really boom. The UK government must be open to these cheaper cars from overseas entering our market.

“Charging taxes need to come down. It is patently ridiculous that anyone without a driveway is essentially barred from having an electric car right now, as charging in public rather than at home incurs a far higher VAT rate. It’s time to end this pavement tax and let everyone get the cheap charging that makes EVs so much more affordable than fossil fuel cars over time.

“Subsidies for fossil fuel use need to end. The UK government has frozen taxes on petrol for over a decade now, even as the cost of roading infrastructure has increased – an effective subsidy on the drug this country needs to quit. No one wants to see fuel poverty, but properly pricing petrol will give the market signal that is needed – fossil cars are on the way to being museum pieces, and should be avoided.

“Infrastructure must be supercharged. Range anxiety is often used as a cudgel by people who realistically will rarely drive hundreds of kilometres in one day. But to get more people over the line we need everyone to be confident that going on a holiday in an EV isn’t going to slow you down.

“The Government and local authorities need to do all they can to increase charging infrastructure, possibly by requiring that all new carparks over a certain size need charging ports.”