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Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles made up 13.2 per cent of market share in April, with hybrid sales narrowly outweighing battery electric.
However, Seán Kemple, managing director of Close Brothers Motor Finance warned that the current shortage of semiconductor chips could yet knock the recovery off course.
“Just as things are looking up for the motor industry, it’s been slammed by a wave of turbulence caused by a global semiconductor shortage. And given how vital these chips are to the industry, in use in everything from power steering to parking sensors, this will have an impact,” he said.
Why don’t I have an EV yet?
Electric cars are becoming an ever more common sight in the UK - but there are still significant barriers to mass adoption. (Getty Images)
Given all the hype around electric cars, it is sometimes easy to forget just how far off mass adoption of the climate friendly vehicles still is.
A recent survey by consumer trends data firm Dynata suggests that as yet just 16 per cent of Brits have bought an electric or hybrid car – way behind world leader China, where 45 per cent of survey respondents now own one.
That’s despite the fact people are more inclined to buying the vehicles than ever before – helped, in part, by government plans to ban the sales of all new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
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Kardashian West joins the billionaires’ club
The number of billionaires worldwide has “exploded” to an unprecedented 2,755 – that’s 660 more than a year ago, according to Forbes.
In the magazine’s annual billionaires list, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest person for the fourth year in a row. He has a fortune of $177bn (£128.2bn) and Tesla CEO Elon Musk is second with $151bn (£109.4bn).
American reality TV star Kim Kardashian West has joined the elite billionaires’ club for the first time. She has a net worth of $1bn (£720m) thanks to her cosmetics and clothing interests as well as income from TV, endorsement deals and investments.