EXCLUSIVE: Donald Trump’s war in Iran has helped drive an electric car boom in the UK, new figures show – with Chinese EVs proving a hit among British drivers tired of rising prices at the pump
Electric cars are driving Britain’s biggest boom in motor sales since the pandemic – and Donald Trump’s war in Iran is one of the big reasons buyers are ditching petrol vehicles.
New figures show 160,662 new cars were registered in the UK last month, up 7% from 150,070 during May 2025, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said. It was the best May for registrations since 2019. Registrations of pure battery new electric cars were up 34.2% to take a market share of 27.3%.
The SMMT said the surge in EV sales was down to expanding model choice, “substantial” discounting by manufacturers, and “economic and geopolitical uncertainty”.
The Iran oil crisis sparked a huge rise in the price of petrol and diesel in the UK – with prices at the pump up 20% compared with before the war. Unleaded petrol is currently averaging 159.43p per litre, with diesel recently hitting 184.96p.
David Isherwood, UK marketing director for manufacturer Renault, said: “Demand for EVs continues to rise, driven by an ever-greater choice of more capable and more affordable cars, and the recent focus brought on fuel costs by the oil price crisis.”
Trump himself is no fan of electric vehicles, having described them previously as an “idea of the radical left fascists, marxists, and communists”, only briefly changing his stance to praise US carmaker Tesla during his friendship with Elon Musk.
It comes after Nissan announced plans on Thursday to build vehicles designed by Chinese company Chery at its Sunderland plant – the latest sign of China’s dominance in the UK’s EV market.
Professor David Bailey, from the University of Birmingham, told the Mirror: “This is arguably the moment China’s car industry stops exporting to Britain and starts manufacturing in Britain. Twenty years ago Chinese brands were trying to break into Europe. Now they’re going to build cars in Britain’s biggest car factory.
“It’s a historic deal because it could make Chery the first major Chinese carmaker to manufacture passenger cars in the UK at scale. The real story isn’t Nissan helping Chery. It’s Chery helping keep a major Nissan factory busy. China isn’t just competing with Western carmakers anymore – it’s becoming part of the industrial base.”
Britain is now one of China’s largest international markets for EV sales, with the Jaecoo 7 4×4 currently the third most-sold car of 2026 so far – ahead of the Vauxhall Corsa, Ranger Rover Sport and the Mini Cooper.
Professor Bailey said the UK’s relative lack of tariffs on Chinese imports compared to the US and EU made it a “wide open market”, while a deliberate “pivot” by Beijing towards electric vehicle manufacturing back in the 2000s meant Western carmakers had been “leapfrogged” in the EV tech race.
