Vehicles on the road
There were 34,393 new BEV registrations in May, which was a 31% increase on the previous month. Legacy manufacturers make up the top 5 OEMs for new registrations for last month, with three of them being Volkswagen brands (Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda).
Tesla are up to 6th place which is marked improvement on the previous month, and they remain by some distance the most popular make over the last 12 months with 49,064 new registrations. This is 12,000 more than their nearest rival; Volkswagen.
Elsewhere we are keeping track of new Chinese manufacturers, with BYD and MG being the most popular brands, having 1,449 and 725 new registrations respectively for May 2025.
Furthermore, we are seeing additional new Chinese manufacturers with Omoda, Maxus, Xpeng, Great Wall Motors and Leap all featuring in last month’s new registrations. It should be noted that Leap are being produced and sold in the UK in partnership with Stellantis, perhaps demonstrating an approach of ‘if you cant beat them, join them’.
At the other end of the cost scale it has been reported that Porsche have temporarily halted the sale of their Taycan model amid concerns of potentially defective battery packs that could contribute to a fire risk.
Accident Repair Costs Data
Average BEV repair costs edged up across the board in May. Tesla, BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Volkswagen all saw increased repair costs of varying severity. Where Mercedes and Volkswagen average repair costs only edged up by circa 1%, BMW, notably saw an increase of close to 15%, a trend worth keeping an eye on in the coming months.
Repair Costs – Top 5 Manufacturers by New Registrations (last 12 months)
We have reported in previous months that Chinese manufacturers such as BYD and MG appear on the face of it to be an attractive risk due to comparatively low repair costs. Write offs and residual value plays a part in this and therefore it is worth highlighting that for a comparatively more expensive make, Volvo appears to have a relatively low average repair cost of under £3,000 over the course of the last year. Their compatriot manufacturer, EV specialist manufacturer Polestar (previously owned by Volvo) also seems to hold repair costs of a lower severity compared to similarly priced vehicles.
Average Repair Costs by Manufacturer – Last 3 Months
| Mar-25 | Change | April-25 | Change | May-25 | Change | ||
| Tesla | £3,596 | -0.8% | £3,607 | +0.3% | £3,714 | +2.9% | |
| Volkswagen | £2,943 | -4.7% | £3,079 | +4.6% | £3,112 | +1.1% | |
| Mercedes | £3,562 | -4.2% | £3,656 | +2.6% | £3,698 | +1.1% | |
| BMW | £3,689 | +1.5% | £3,513 | -4.8% | £4,039 | +14.9% | |
| Audi | £3,659 | +1.9% | £3,375 | -7.8% | £3,550 | +5.1% | |
n.b. Repair Costs are inclusive of discounts, but excluding tax.
With EV batteries typically making up a third of the vehicle’s value, we were encouraged to see a to see breakthrough results from UK-based clean technology group, Altilium, who have completed the UK’s first EV battery cell production using recycled materials. Ground-breaking technologies such as this will no doubt assist in the repairability and recyclability of EV batteries and therefore aid the transition towards the Governments ZEV targets.
Further progress came to light on the 29th May with Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, confirming that henceforth more drivers and businesses will not need to submit a planning application to install public or private EV sockets.
She, said: “We’re cutting down on paperwork to power up the EV revolution so that drivers, businesses and those looking to make the switch will have more chargepoints to power from and less red tape to deal with.”
“We continue to make the switch to EVs easier, cheaper and better by investing over £2.3 billion to support drivers and back British carmakers through international trade deals – creating jobs, boosting investment and securing our future as part of our Plan for Change.”
This is no doubt extremely welcome news to EV drivers, fleets and CPOs.
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