Registrations of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in the UK totalled 14,838 units in the first six months of the year, a 262.3% increase on the 4,096 registered in the same period of 2014. Over a fifth (20.4%) of the 72,741 plug-ins registered in the EU and EFTA countries went to the UK.

That makes the UK the region’s second largest market for plug-in vehicles, behind Norway at 16,990, but significantly ahead of the 10,427 registered in France. It’s also a significant rise over the first half of last year, when the UK ranked fifth behind Norway (10,231), the Netherlands (8,273), Germany (5,807) and France (4,968).

Hybrid and mild hybrid technology is more established, so volumes are higher but growth has been slower. A total of 23,065 were registered in the UK in the first half of 2015, compared to 19,215 in 2014 (+20.0%) – that’s 19.5% of the 118,195 regional total. France was the largest market, with 27,402 hybrids registered in the first six months of the year, followed by Britain, with Italy in third place at 12,937 units.

ACEA data also shows a significant shift towards plug-in vehicles. Omitting LPG and CNG-powered vehicles, 29.6% of the 138,813 alternatively-powered models sold in the first six months of 2014 had fully electric or plug-in hybrid drivetrains. In 2015, 37.9% of the 190,436 alternatively-fuelled vehicles registered feature a plug-in drivetrain.