Tesla Model Y was UK’s best-selling EV in 2025

Tesla’s Model Y was the best-selling electric vehicle in the UK during 2025, new results have shown.

Data released today (Jan 6) by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), shows that 24,298 examples of the electric SUV were registered during the 12-month period, with Tesla’s Model 3 saloon taking second place with 21,188 registrations.

Last October, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk unveiled stripped-back versions of both cars, introducing them in an effort to fend off rising competition from Chinese manufacturers.

Since then, Tesla has announced that it sold 1.64 million vehicles worldwide in 2025, with Chinese manufacturer BYD toppling the American carmaker off the top spot for global electric car sales with its 2.26 million vehicles sold during the year.

Tesla’s sales also represented a nine per cent fall on the previous year.

In third place came Audi’s Q4 e-tron with 14,433 examples registered, while other contenders in the top 10 list included the Ford Explorer, BMW i4 and Skoda’s Enyaq and Elroq models.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, “The new car market finally reaching two million registrations for the first time this decade is a reasonably solid result amid tough economic and geopolitical headwinds. Rising EV uptake is an undoubted positive, but the pace is still too slow and the cost to industry too high.”

The SMMT’s end-of-year figures also showed that new-car sales grew by 3.5 per cent in 2025, with 2.02 million vehicles registered during the year. Registrations of electric cars were up 23.9 per cent year-on-year, too.