Electric vehicles

You can buy an electric car in the same ways you’d buy a diesel or petrol car; online, in a showroom or from a second-hand seller. Electric vehicles (EVs) have been around a while now and a growing second-hand market means you can find used electric cars for sale on the usual websites and forecourts.

Electric cars must have an MOT after 3 years. Tests should be booked in time for the third anniversary of their registration and every year after their last MOT.

EVs have better pass rates than petrol and diesel cars, mainly because there are fewer moving parts, making them less vulnerable to wear and tear.

Hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric cars all use battery power to drive but to varying degrees:

One of the easiest ways to find a public charging point is through your phone. There are a number of apps that share the location of electric car chargers in the UK from different networks and some that also allow you to pay for charging. Alternatively, EV owners can pay through a subscription or on a pay-per-session basis using debit and credit cards at compatible charge points.

You can find public chargers in motorway service stations, public car parks and at the side of residential roads too. Find out more about how electric car charging works.

According to Zapmap, there are over 51,000 public charging devices in the UK as of November 2023.