Ultra low emission vehicles and charging points
The definition given by DVLA/DfT of Ultra low emission vehicles (ULEVs) is that they 'are vehicles that emit less than 75g of carbon dioxide (CO2) from the tailpipe for every kilometre travelled. In practice, the term typically refers to battery electric, plug-in hybrid electric and fuel cell electric cars or vans.' The vehicles are allocated to local authorities by the postcode of the registered keeper, which may be the registered address of a business, rather than an individual. Table 1 shows figures for plug-in vehicles and all ULEVs.
In 2024, the number of ULEVs in the Lancashire-12 area was 22,404. This equates to just 2.91% of the 768,786 total number of vehicles in the area.
The total number of ultra low emission vehicles in the Lancashire-12 area has risen by a considerable 18,394 (458.7%) on the 2020 figure.
Please note that significant changes in the number of vehicles from year to year can often occur when companies with large fleets of vehicles change their registered address. DfT now supply the figures split into company and private classifications. The number of privately owned ULEVs in the Lancashire-12 area in 2024 was 16,269, 72.6% of the total.
The number of ULEVs as a % of all vehicles varies from lows of 2.33% in Pendle to a high of 3.49% in Blackburn with Darwen. Nowhere in Lancashire approaches the UK average of 5.14%. In London the overall rate is 8.32% and in Inner London 11.82%. Even in London there is wide variation, with Westminster having a rate of 41.0% of all vehicles being ULEVs. Elsewhere in England, Stockport, Windsor and Maidenhead, Peterborough, Slough and Swindon had rates of over 20% of all vehicles being ULEVs. In all of these areas over 94% of ULEVs are company owned. The new structure of the table confirms our earlier belief that there may be one or more vehicle fleets or rental companies based in such authorities.
Within the Lancashire-12 area, Lancaster has the most public charging devices with 168, followed by South Ribble (119) , Chorley (112), West Lancashire (102) and Wyre (101). This does not follow the order of plug-in vehicles, in which West Lancashire has most (2,683), followed by Chorley (2,501) and Preston (2,465).
Three of the four local authorities with the most public charging devices in the UK are London boroughs. They are Westminster (2,746), Hammersmith and Fulham (2,674), Coventry (2,578) and Southwark (1,874). Those with fewest include the Isles of Scilly (eight charging points), Melton (14), Fenland (18) and Castle Point (19).
Previously plug-in vehicles could be considered a sub-set of ULEVs when the figures were sourced from Table VEH0131 but now, sourced from table VEH0142, the numbers are similar or sometimes exceed the number of ULEVs. It is not completely clear why this is the case. Table VEH0131 specifically referred to plug in cars and light vans, but was discontinued. Table VEH0132 does not break down by body type, but the UK total is the same (2,140,918) as in a different table, VEH0133, which does, but only down to country level. As both tables (veh0142 and veh0132) give figures for battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles, we would expect these to be the same, but they are not. Veh0132 has an extra 'fuel' type called other fuels. This refers to vehicles that do not plug in, but also to range-extended battery electric vehicles (which do).
In the 'Related information' panel there is a link to a Lancashire County Council web page that lists locations of charging points that the authority has installed, or is planning to do so.
The Environment and Transport Neighbourhood Intelligence dashboard allows for more detailed analysis of the licensed vehicle statistics, such as by district or groups of districts, by vehicle type and by year dating back to 2009. These are found on Slide 2 'Air quality / Road transport' of the dashboard.
Table 1. Plug-in and all ultra low emission vehicle numbers 2024, as % of total vehicles, 2024 and charging points, 2025.
| District | Plug-in vehicles | Total ULEVs | Total vehicles | ULEVs as % of all vehicles | Total public charging devices | Total public rapid charging devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnley | 1,000 | 1,134 | 47,000 | 2.42 | 64 | 22 |
| Chorley | 2,501 | 2,511 | 77,123 | 3.26 | 112 | 87 |
| Fylde | 1,732 | 1,722 | 55,570 | 3.10 | 69 | 39 |
| Hyndburn | 1,053 | 1,180 | 46,037 | 2.56 | 25 | 5 |
| Lancaster | 2,033 | 2,090 | 82,021 | 2.55 | 168 | 41 |
| Pendle | 1,063 | 1,237 | 53,151 | 2.33 | 40 | 25 |
| Preston | 2,465 | 2,685 | 79,605 | 3.37 | 81 | 43 |
| Ribble Valley | 1,595 | 1,584 | 47,224 | 3.35 | 65 | 4 |
| Rossendale | 1,196 | 1,221 | 43,685 | 2.80 | 85 | 15 |
| South Ribble | 2,202 | 2,205 | 77,673 | 2.84 | 119 | 64 |
| West Lancashire | 2,683 | 2,693 | 81,960 | 3.29 | 102 | 21 |
| Wyre | 2,045 | 2,069 | 76,441 | 2.71 | 101 | 43 |
| Lancashire-12 | 21,640 | 22,404 | 768,786 | 2.91 | 1,031 | 409 |
| Blackburn with Darwen | 2,158 | 2,653 | 76,115 | 3.49 | 60 | 24 |
| Blackpool | 1,418 | 1,641 | 68,878 | 2.38 | 91 | 18 |
| Lancashire-14(1) | 25,216 | 26,698 | 913,779 | 2.92 | 1,182 | 303 |
| North West | 277,309 | 283,289 | 4,426,832 | 6.40 | 5,669 | 1,826 |
| London | 234,922 | 247,836 | 2,978,757 | 8.32 | 24,419 | 1,431 |
| England | 1,892,547 | 1,937,355 | 35,109,629 | 5.52 | 70,672 | 13,694 |
| United Kingdom | 2,094,881 | 2,140,918 | 41,664,430 | 5.14 | 82,002 | 16,677 |
Source: Department for Transport: Vehicle Licensing Statistics (tables VEH0142, VEH0132 and VEH0105, Online charging point map and tables), Zap-map.com
(1) The Lancashire-14 figures have been calculated by us by summing the Lancashire-12, Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool figures for plug-ins, ULEVs and charging points.
Page updated October 2025