Electric Car Rental Statistics: United Kingdom

The United Kingdom’s electric car rental sector is becoming easier for renters to use as electric vehicle (EV) choice improves and public charging expands. Demand is still uneven, but the market is moving in a positive direction for city trips, business travel, and renters who want to try electric driving.

The United Kingdom’s vehicle rental sector operates around 450,000 cars and vans across more than 1,500 branches, giving rental companies a large role in how quickly electric vehicles reach short-term drivers.

• The rental sector operates through more than 1,500 branches, which makes branch charging and fleet availability important for EV rental growth.
• Business customers accounted for 67% of car rental volumes in BVRLA’s September 2024 rental operator survey.
• Business customers accounted for 84% of light commercial vehicle rental volumes in the same survey.
• The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) reported EV utilisation around 10% lower than comparable internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
• BVRLA reported EV holding costs at around double the level of comparable ICE vehicles.

Note: The 67% figure applies to car rental volumes, while the 84% figure applies to light commercial vehicle rental volumes.

Business customers accounted for 67% of United Kingdom car rental volumes in BVRLA’s September 2024 rental operator survey, while 48% of rental needs came from day-to-day life activities in BVRLA Societal Impact Research 2024.

• Day-to-day life activities accounted for 48% of rental needs in 2024, the largest share in BVRLA’s rental-purpose data.
• Work-related rental needs accounted for 28% of rental needs in 2024, compared with 15% for leisure and holiday use.
• Test driving a new EV accounted for 5% of rental needs in 2024, compared with 4% for test driving a new petrol or diesel vehicle.
• Around two-thirds of EV renters reported a positive EV rental experience.
• 22% of EV renters said they would avoid electric vehicles in the future.

Note: The rental-purpose shares describe overall rental demand in 2024, while the EV experience figures describe EV renters.

London had 340.0 public EV chargers per 100,000 residents on 1 April 2026, compared with the United Kingdom average of 171.9.

• Scotland had 228.5 public EV chargers per 100,000 residents on 1 April 2026, and Wales had 179.3.
• Northern Ireland had 59.4 public EV chargers per 100,000 residents on 1 April 2026, the lowest figure in the selected comparison.
• Scotland had 57.2 rapid-or-above chargers per 100,000 residents on 1 April 2026, compared with the United Kingdom average of 39.5.
• London had 27.0 rapid-or-above chargers per 100,000 residents on 1 April 2026.
• In England and Wales, 82.8% of public EV chargers were in urban areas and 17.2% were in rural areas.

The Zero-Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate requires 33% of manufacturers’ new car registrations to be zero emission in 2026, rising to 80% by 2030.

• The car ZEV target rose from 22% in 2024 to 28% in 2025, then increased to 33% in 2026.
• The target rises to 38% in 2027, 52% in 2028, and 66% in 2029.
• The target reaches 80% in 2030.
• BVRLA reported rental EV utilisation around 10% below comparable ICE vehicles.
• BVRLA reported EV holding costs at around double the level of comparable ICE vehicles.

Note: ZEV Mandate targets apply to manufacturers’ new car registrations, while the 10 percentage-point utilisation gap applies to rental operators’ EV fleet experience.