New figures show many motorists are looking to move away from traditional petrol and diesel cars in favour of alternative fuel-powered vehicles.
According to the Go Ultra low campaign, a total of 20,992 drivers purchased a plug-in vehicle in the first nine months of 2013 – up from 139 per cent during the same January to September period in 2014.
The most popular model was the Mitsubishi's flagship Outlander PHEV with buyers purchasing a total of 9,303 so far in 2015, followed by the Nissan Leaf with 4,285 registrations and BMW's i3 at third with 1,564 sales.
There are currently a total of 27 pure electric or plug-in hybrid cars on sale in the UK at present and the market is expected to expand considerably over the coming years as motorists look to reduce their emissions and save on petrol costs.
Head of Go Ultra Low, Poppy Welch, said: "The growth in plug-in car registrations is excellent news and in line with our expectations. This trend should continue over the course of this year as we know that motorists are keen to achieve maximum miles for the lowest cost, while minimising emissions and environmental impact."
The Government wants the proportion of registrations of new cars with ultra-low emissions to reach five per cent by 2020 – significantly up from its current level of one per cent.