Month: February 2023

Used-car marketplace Motorway has today announced the top 10 EV cities in the UK, with London and Nottingham coming out on top. It comes as EV sales continue to rise in the UK, with reports used EV sales grew 44.1% in Q3 2022*. 

The UK capital has been named as the city leading the charge on electric vehicle adoption, with EVs representing almost 25% of new and used car sales. It also paves the way with 8,600 public charging points. However, when it comes to charging availability, London ranks at 15, with the ratio of chargers to people standing at 1 to 1,672. Nottingham ranks second on the index, which was compiled by reviewing EV sales data by region, charging point availability and clean air policies of cities and towns across the UK.

With the 2030 electric switchover fast approaching, motorists are making a conscious effort with their car choices. Bedford ranked third for electric-vehicle readiness, following the development of its extensive net-zero strategy and its focus on installing public charging points. Meanwhile, Newcastle upon Tyne has been named as an electric vehicle hotspot with more electric cars sold in 2022 than anywhere else in the UK.

The top 10 electric car cities and towns revealed by Motorway:

1. London
2. Nottingham
3. Bedford
4. Manchester
5. Newcastle upon Tyne
6. Milton Keynes
7. Bristol
8. Oxford
9. Coventry
10. Southampton

As well as the climate-conscious benefits, there are several economic advantages to electric vehicles that Brits are capitalising on. Not only do they positively impact the environment, but lower running costs are likely one of the top draws to purchasing this fuel type, as motorists can save up to £650 on fuel and road tax** a year, compared to petrol and diesel cars. 

Alex Buttle, Co-Founder of online used-car marketplace Motorway said: “While I’m sure most car owners are considering making the transition to an EV at some point, there are several factors at play in the decision. One of those factors is whether or not you live in a city or town which has sufficient charging point infrastructure. We’ve created this comprehensive index to help car owners understand which areas and cities are truly leading the charge when it comes to EV-friendliness. As we look ahead to 2030, we’d love to see this list become more competitive, making it easier and more affordable than ever for car owners to make the switch.”

For an estimated valuation of your car, visit Motorway.co.uk.

And to read more about the EV cities leading the charge, visit https://motorway.co.uk/best-ev-cities 

*https://www.smmt.co.uk/2022/11/used-car-sales-q3-2022/ 

**Until 1st April 2025, when EVs  become liable for Vehicle Excise Duty, more commonly referred to as ‘road tax’. 

Motorway continues to scale and establish its position as go-to platform to transact online

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, today announced accelerated business growth in 2022 as record numbers of customers turned to its platform to sell their car online.

Motorway saw its sales more than double year on year from £841m in 2021 to £1.7bn in 2022. This rapid growth demonstrates continued demand for Motorway’s service, which matches people selling their car with car dealers looking to acquire stock. By removing the middlemen and bringing the process online, the platform delivers a better deal for both sides, with a more efficient experience, driven by technology. 

Since the summer, Motorway has seen record numbers of cars going into its daily online sales, with volumes exceeding 1,000 vehicles a day.  A car now sells via Motorway every four minutes, with over 1m car owners using the site a month. As quality used car stock becomes harder than ever for dealerships to acquire, this has meant Motorway’s network of dealers has had a strong stream of quality privately-owned cars to choose from, through a powerful new online experience. The number of verified dealers in Motorway’s nationwide network now surpasses 5,000 across franchised and independent dealerships, up from 3,000 at the end of 2021.  

To support this rapid growth in 2022, the Motorway team has increased from 227 at the end of 2021 to more than 400 today.  The company has also maintained its service quality through this growth curve – retaining its ‘Excellent’ rating by Trustpilot with over 40,000 reviews. 

Tom Leathes, CEO of Motorway said:

“Our growth this year is testament to both the great team we have built and our commitment to providing a better way to transact for car owners and dealers. Selling a car has always been hard, but we’re creating a new set of expectations – a great deal with a seamless user experience where everyone in the transaction wins. 

“In a highly unpredictable market, our marketplace model means that even in rapidly-changing dynamics, we’re able to secure the best deal reliably for sellers and dealers, and at ever-increasing scale. Our customer-first approach has paid off – more people than ever before are now coming to Motorway to sell their cars, which means in turn we are able to offer more used car stock to our dealer network, and to continue growing efficiently. 

“We are delighted with the great results last year, but we won’t be resting on our laurels in 2023.  Our customers can expect to see even more innovation from us this year, as we deliver even better ways to improve the car-selling and car-buying experience.”

Motorway is anticipating continued rapid growth in both sales and revenue in 2023.  The company is on a strong path to profitability, and it has significant funding reserves to drive its onward growth and innovation.  Motorway completed a Series C investment round of over $190m in November 2021, from global technology investors including Index Ventures and ICONIQ Growth.

The company has announced the continued sponsorship of the Rugby Six Nations coverage on ITV starting in February, and recently announced the launch of its new ‘Car Value Tracker’ tool, enabling consumers to get regular alerts on the value of their vehicle over time, so they can decide the right time to sell.

New online tool enables car owners to check and track the value of their car over time 

Motorway, the UK’s fastest-growing used car marketplace, has launched an online tool which allows car and van owners to track the value of their vehicle. 

The Car Value Tracker uses millions of vehicle value data points gathered by Motorway to generate an up-to-date valuation for any vehicle, along with 24 months of historic pricing. Motorists can also opt-in to receive monthly updates to track their vehicle’s value over time. 

This new tool, the first of its kind in the market, gives car owners the confidence needed to pinpoint the right time to sell, by tracking how their car depreciates and appreciates according to market trends. 

Previously, car depreciation almost always followed a downward trend but, over the past two years, the industry has experienced unprecedented changes. Global supply chain shortages, a slow down in new car production and a rapidly changing economy have resulted in used-cars holding their value at a better rate – and sometimes even going up in value. Due to these changes, it’s now more important than ever for car owners to track the value of vehicles. 

How it works

Using advanced data science techniques, the Car Value Tracker leverages historic data from thousands of similar cars that have sold through the Motorway platform, and hundreds of thousands of bids from dealers, to model each individual car’s valuation history.  Car owners will be presented with an interactive graph showing their car’s value today and how it has depreciated – or appreciated – over the previous 24 months. If the car owner has valued their vehicle on Motorway in the past, those valuations are also included on the graph. 

Key features: 

• A free, up-to-date valuation for any car or van
• An interactive graph with 24 months of historic pricing data, showing how a vehicle’s value has changed over time
• Opportunity to sign up for monthly email alerts, to keep up-to-date with the vehicle’s value 
• Ability to value and track multiple vehicles (perfect for multi car households!)

Harry Jones, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Motorway said: “At Motorway, we connect car owners with our nationwide network of dealers, to help them get a great price for their car. The Car Value Tracker is an exciting innovation, leveraging our extensive data and automotive knowledge to help car owners keep tabs on the value of their vehicles over time, and make confident decisions about selling their car, when the time is right.”

To track the value of your car, visit motorway.co.uk/car-value-tracker.