Electric vehicles (EVs) accounted for fewer than a fifth (19 per cent) of new car inquiries sent to retailers through its online marketplace last month, down from 27 per cent in June 2022, when petrol reached almost £2 a litre.
Auto Trader also reported that the number of searches and advert views for used cars has fallen by 13 per cent in the past 12 months.
The company's Road to 2030 Report showed the first year-on-year decline in demand for EVs since April 2020, shortly after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Some of the causes of this change in trends have been attributed to changes in government policy.
In his Autumn Statement, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt announced that new zero-emission cars will no longer be exempt from vehicle excise duty from April 2025, which was reportedly designed to make the motoring tax system “fairer”.
In February, MPs on the Transport Committee warned that the government faces a major funding gap for road infrastructure...