Licensed plug-in vehicles

Lisensed plug-in vehicles in the North East 

The Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) publish vehicle licensing statistics each quarter, including the number of plug-in vehicles (PiV) which are battery electric, plug-in hybrids and range-extended electric.  

According to the 2022 Q3 release, there are almost 12,300 PiVs registered in the North East - 64% of which are battery electric and therefore classified as zero emission vehicles. There has been a rapid increase in the number of PiVs licensed in the region over the past ten years, with 3.5 times the number of PiVs licensed now compared to 2019 figures. 

Of all the licensed vehicles in the North East, 1.2% are PiVs which is an increase from 0.75% on the previous year. However, the region lags behind other areas in the North of England, with PiVs making up 2.9% of licensed vehicles in the North West and 2.3% in Yorkshire and the Humber.

County Durham has the highest number of licensed PiVs with 3,144 vehicles, closely followed by Northumberland which has 2,867 vehicles. However, Newcastle upon Tyne has the highest number of PiVs as a proportion of the total vehicle fleet whilst Sunderland has the lowest. All of the local authorities in the North East have less PiVs as a proportion of licensed vehicles than the national average.