The UK electric vehicle (EV) sector is about more than electric car manufacturers. Charging networks, battery technology, motors and materials all play a role in the transition to electric transport.
Electric and hybrid vehicles cover far more than carmakers. The sector spans charging networks, batteries, motors, and the raw materials behind them. Using Beauhurst data, we’ve ranked 100 UK-headquartered electric and hybrid vehicle companies by the total equity funding they have raised.
Together, the companies in our wider analysis have raised £6.40b across 492 equity rounds. The record year is 2023, at £1.41b.
This is not a ranking of the UK’s largest vehicle manufacturers by units sold. Instead, it shows which companies building electric transport and its infrastructure have attracted the most equity investment.
The UK electric and hybrid vehicle sector
The UK has relatively few electric carmakers. What it has instead is a deep supply chain and a charging industry.
That shows in the classification. Cars, motorcycles and other road vehicles is a secondary tag on 71 of the 105 companies tracked, but energy storage and manufacturing each appear on 37, and renewable energy on 25.
The companies in our analysis fall into three broad groups:
- Charging infrastructure: Public networks, home and workplace chargers, and the software that manages them.
- Batteries, motors and materials: Cell chemistry, anodes, electric drivetrains, and the lithium and rare earth supply chain.
- Vehicles and conversion: Electric cars, bikes, boats, aircraft, and the companies retrofitting existing vehicles.
There are 105 companies in the wider cohort today, compared with 28 at the end of 2015. That is growth of 275% over the decade, among the fastest in our Top 100 series.
The cohort sits in the middle of the growth journey. Some 42 companies are at venture stage and 36 at growth, with 16 established and four at seed. Five have exited, one is recorded as dead, and one as a zombie.
New company formation has slowed markedly, from 14 companies founded in 2019 and 13 in 2020 to two in 2024 and five in 2025.
Electric vehicle funding in the UK
Across the companies in our analysis, total equity funding stands at £6.40b across 492 equity rounds.
Centrica leads the ranking with £1.13b, appearing in the cohort through its electric vehicle and smart energy businesses rather than as a pure EV company.
Zenobē follows with £1.03b in fleet electrification and grid storage, ahead of GRIDSERVE (£623m), Vertical Aerospace (£382m) in electric aircraft, and Nexeon (£324m) in silicon anode batteries.
Concentration is high. Centrica accounts for 18% of the total, the top five for 54%, and the top 10 for 66%.
Revenue is concentrated differently. Centrica reported £19.5b in its latest accounts, followed by Formula E at £186m, Zenobē at £145m, YASA Motors at £103m, and InstaVolt at £66.6m.
Who invests in UK electric vehicle companies?
The sector is funded from two entirely separate pools of capital.
By number of rounds, retail and angel money dominates. Crowdcube has backed 24 rounds and Republic Europe 15, ahead of Envestors on nine, and Barclays Climate Ventures, Minerva Business Angel Network, and SyndicateRoom on seven each.
By value, infrastructure and debt capital takes over. Infracapital leads at £1.25b, followed by KKR Private Equity at £792m and the National Wealth Fund at £612m. A syndicate of CIBC Innovation Banking, KfW IPEX, and MUFG Innovation Partners appears at £300m each through a single large financing.
Charging networks and fleet electrification are infrastructure businesses, and they are funded accordingly, often with debt alongside equity.
Where are the UK’s electric vehicle companies?
This is one of the more geographically distributed sectors we have ranked.
London and the South East hold the largest shares, the latter including Nexeon, Protean Electric, Ilika, and InstaVolt.
The Midlands is unusually strong, reflecting the existing automotive base. Aurrigo, Maeving, Indra, RBW EV Cars, and Eatron Technologies are all in the West Midlands.
The cohort also reaches Scotland, Wales, the North East, and Yorkshire and the Humber, with Cornish Lithium and Altilium Clean Technology in the South West working on the materials end of the supply chain.
