Thousands more low emission vehicles on Fife roads, figures reveal
Thousands of ultra low emission vehicles were registered in Fife in 2025, recent figures show.
The rise comes amid government efforts to make them more accessible for households around the country, including by raising the number of public electric vehicles charge points and making at-home charging easier.
Figures from the Department for Transport show 7,630 ULEVs were registered in Fife at the end of June – up 44% from 5,286 a year earlier.
Of those, 5,370 were battery EVs – also known as 'pure EVs' – 52 were plug-in hybrid EVs powered by diesel, 2,068 were plug-in hybrid EVs powered by petrol and 140 relied on other fuel types.
Across the UK the number of ULEVs increased about 34% in a year, from almost 1.85 million in June 2024 to nearly 2.5 million in June 2025.
It means around 5.8% of the 42 million vehicles registered in the country as of June were ULEVs.
Campaign group Friends of the Earth welcomed the rise, but said "more must be done" to ensure equal access to electric vehicles across the country, particularly for low-income households.
According to the Vehicle Certification Agency, ULEVs are defined as having less than 75 grams of CO2 per kilometre from the tail pipe. They include pure EVs and other plug-in EVs when driven in electric mode. In Scotland, the figure rose by 36%, from 104,859 in June 2024 to 143,012 in June 2025.
Sandra Bell, climate campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: "The increase in EVs is extremely welcome and needs to continue at pace to cut air pollution as well as tackle climate change.
"However, more must be done to ensure the EV rollout is equally accessible across the country, especially for low-income households.
"The steep upfront cost of vehicles and limited charging availability are barriers ministers must urgently address.
"The Government included some measures to help remedy this in its recent climate plan, but more focus must be paid to affordability and the regional difference in charging infrastructure."
Reacting to separate figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders showing EV sales across the UK hit a record high in October, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said: "Another month of record-breaking EV sales shows more families than ever have the confidence to go electric.”