What Used Cars in the UK Actually Run On — and Why It Is Not What You Read
Almost everything written about what Britain drives is based on new car registrations. That is a reasonable measure of what is being sold this month and a poor one for what is available used, because a car takes three or four years to reach the second-hand market and then stays in it for a decade or more.
So here is the other number. This is the fuel mix of live used cars advertised on Autoza, measured on 2026-09-20.
The overall picture
- Petrol — 55.6%
- Diesel — 37.1%
- Hybrid — 4.6%
- Electric — 1.5%
- Plug-in hybrid, or a fuel type the advert did not state — 1.2%
Petrol and diesel together account for the overwhelming majority of what is actually for sale. Electric is 1.5% of it.
That is not an argument against electric cars. It is a fact about supply, and it matters because a buyer reading that a third of new cars are electric can reasonably conclude that a third of used cars will be too. They will not be, for years yet, because today's used stock is made of cars registered a decade ago.
And it changes completely with budget
| Budget | Petrol | Diesel | Electric | Hybrid | PHEV or not stated | Electrified |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under £5,000 | 61.6% | 37.4% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.0% | 0.9% |
| £5,000 to £10,000 | 58.9% | 38.2% | 0.6% | 1.9% | 0.4% | 2.4% |
| £10,000 to £20,000 | 47.6% | 38.3% | 2.6% | 9.6% | 1.9% | 12.5% |
| £20,000 to £30,000 | 47.0% | 36.3% | 4.8% | 7.1% | 4.8% | 12.5% |
| Over £30,000 | 59.3% | 21.2% | 0.9% | 14.2% | 4.4% | 15.0% |
The first five columns are what each band is made of and add to 100%. The last column is a subtotal, not a sixth category: electric plus hybrid plus plug-in hybrid, which is why it overlaps the columns to its left.
It is also the one worth reading. At under £5,000, 0.9% of what is for sale is electric or hybrid. Even over £30,000, it is 15.0%.
What this means if you are shopping
Below £10,000, an electric car is not really a choice you get to make. There are a handful, they tend to be early cars with small batteries, and the practical question is usually whether the one you found is any good rather than which one to pick. If you want electric at that budget, expect to wait and to compromise.
Between £10,000 and £30,000 the option opens up, but petrol and diesel still make up the large majority of the choice. You are not choosing between an equal number of each.
Diesel is still roughly a third of the market at every budget below £30,000. Whatever the new-car headlines say, a used buyer in Britain is still choosing between petrol and diesel far more often than between petrol and electric — which is why the comparison worth doing is what a used petrol and a used diesel actually look like at the same age.
Two things to be careful about
This is one marketplace, not the whole country. It is a real sample of live UK forecourt stock and it will not be identical to the national picture.
And it is a snapshot. Stock turns over, so these shares move. The direction of travel is not in doubt — the electrified share will rise as the cars registered in the 2020s reach the used market — but it is arriving slowly at the budget end, and anyone planning a purchase on the assumption that it has already arrived is planning for a market that does not exist yet.
If you are weighing one up anyway, the deciding factor is rarely the badge: it is whether you can charge at home. Our comparison of what an electric car costs to run against petrol works that through, and from April 2028 there is a mileage charge on electric cars to price in as well.
Frequently Asked Questions
What share of used cars for sale in the UK are electric?
On this marketplace, measured on 2026-09-20, electric cars are 1.5% of live used stock, against 55.6% petrol and 37.1% diesel. That is a share of what is advertised for sale rather than a share of cars on the road, and it is one marketplace rather than the national picture.
Why are there so few used electric cars when so many new cars are electric?
Because used stock is made of cars registered years ago. A car takes three or four years to reach the second-hand market and then stays in it for a decade or more, so a forecourt today reflects registrations from the middle of the last decade rather than this year’s. New-registration figures describe what is being sold this month; they do not describe what a used buyer can choose from.
At what budget do electric and hybrid cars actually start appearing?
Mostly above £10,000. In the cheapest band we measure (Under £5,000) the electrified share — electric plus hybrid — is 0.9%; in the dearest (Over £30,000) it is 15.0%. Below £10,000 an electric car is barely a choice you get to make.