The introduction of Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs i.e. the Toyota Prius) to the mainstream automotive market represents a significant moment in terms of the shift towards low carbon propulsion technologies in cars. Available since the start of the millennium, HEVs have established themselves as a large market niche, with over 184,000 currently registered for use of UK roads.
Locating the registrations of HEVs across the local authorities of the UK, it is clear from the map below that these vehicles have seen relatively high demand in the South East of England, with areas around the South West of England, Wales and in the North of the UK having observed more muted levels of registrations. Interesting, a correlation analysis between the current level of HEVs registrations and the current level of Electric Vehicle registrations returns a coefficient of 0.469 (significant at the 0.01 p-value). This result indicates that Electric Vehicle registrations tend to be occurring in the areas which have already witnessed a relatively high level of HEV adoption. This may imply that Electric Vehicle registrations are shadowing those of HEVs. A question which may come from this observation is will the spatial registration rates of Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles mirror those of Electric Vehicles when they are introduced to the market?
