SUV sales undermining UK's low carbon transport plans

The report, which calls for immediate action to reduce the sales of larger cars, notes that over the past four years there have been 1.8 million SUV sales, compared to a total of 47 thousand for battery electric vehicles (BEV). In 2018, SUVs accounted for 21.2 per cent of new car sales, up from 13.5 per cent just three years earlier.

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SUVs are larger and heavier than a standard car, emitting about a quarter more CO₂ than a medium-size car and nearly four times more than a medium-sized battery electric vehicle. Assuming the majority of these SUVs will be on UK roads for at least a decade, it is estimated the extra cumulative emissions to total around 8.2 million tons of CO₂ .

The reasons for the increase in the number of SUVs require further research. They are likely to be a product of attractive car financing packages which divert attention from running costs. In 2018, over 90 per cent of all private new car registrations in the UK were purchased using finance products such as Personal Contract Purchase (PCP).