UPTAKE of low-carbon cars, which nearly doubled in the first nine months, outstripped growth in the wider motor industry. The BMW i3 electric car, due to launch in 2013.

Electric car sales rapidly picked up speed in 2012, with numbers almost doubling in the first nine months, ahead of a new generation of models by BMW, Ford and Tesla Motors arriving in 2013.

The acceleration hugely outstripped growth in the wider car industry, which saw a sales increase of just 5.4 per cent in 2012 against 2011.

The turnaround for the low-carbon cars’ fortunes follows a £5,000 government grant launched in January 2011, which saw sales leaping in the first quarter of 2011 before quickly declining.

Electric cars run off batteries that can be topped up from conventional mains sockets, typically have a range of around 100 miles, and cost around a quarter per mile of what a conventional petrol or diesel car takes to run.

The cars, which are seen as crucial to meet the government’s climate targets and tackle air pollution, however remain a fraction of the 1.9 million conventional ones sold last year.

A total of 1,419 were registered in the first three quarters under the grant scheme, up from 786 for the same period in 2011.