Electric vehicle sales surged to a new record high in August, accounting for one in every 12 cars bought in the UK.

Fresh figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show nearly 7,500 hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars were registered during the month – an 89 per cent increase on the same period last year.

Electric vehicles (EVs) made up 8 per cent of the 94,000 cars purchased during August. Their share of total sales grew by 2.8 percentage points year-on-year to reach its highest level ever.

More than 91,000 EVs have been registered since the beginning of 2018, giving them a market share for the year-to-date of 5.8 per cent. At the same point in 2017, EV sales stood at 71,000, equating to a market share of 4.4 per cent.