The number of low carbon cars on the UK’s roads more than doubled in 2010, according to the latest statistics released by the Department of Transport (DfT).
The number of cars emitting less than 100g/km CO2 registered in the UK increased from 28,549 in 2009 to 57,000 in the last year. Cars with emissions below this level qualify for the lowest Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) band A, making them attractive to car buyers because they are do not pay any duty in this band, and benefit from strong fuel economy, making them cheaper to run.
Overall by the the end of 2010, the DfT recorded that there were 34.1 million vehicles licensed in Great Britain. This represents a 0.5 per cent (or 162, 000 vehicles) increase on the number licensed at the end of 2009. However, the numbers of licensed motorcycles, heavy goods vehicles and buses & coaches all decreased during the year.
Average CO2 emissions from all new cars registered in 2010 decreased to 144 g/km, down 4 per cent from the 2009 figure. Since 2001 the average emissions of new cars has fallen by over 18 per cent.
The popularity of diesels also continued to rise, with about 46 per cent of newly licensed cars in 2010 using on diesel, up from 41 per cent in 2009.
In addition, the number of newly registered hybrid electric cars passed 20,000 for the first time, and a total of 135,000 licensed cars used an alternative fuel to petrol or diesel by the end of the year- a figure that has increased roughly seven-fold in 10 years.
