March 6 Reuters British new car registrations jumped 26 in February from a year ago, raising the prospect of nearly half a million plugin cars joining the roads by the end of this year, according to industry data released on Monday.

The upcoming spring budget on March 15 should include setting out a longterm plan for investment in charging infrastructure to meet demand from battery electric vehicles and plugin hybrid cars, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders SMMT said in a statement.

The industry body also called for a review of the Vehicle Excise Duty premium that it said would unfairly penalise buyers switching to the more expensive electric vehicles.

As we move into new plate month39; in March, with more of the latest hightech cars available, the upcoming budget must deliver measures that drive this transition, increasing affordability and ease of charging for all, SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes said.

Sales of new cars jumped to 74,441 units in February, the seventh straight month of growth, per SMMT data, as easing supply chain shortages steered the market closer to preCOVID levels.

Plugin vehicles accounted for about a quarter of the registrations, with 488,000 of those set to join Britains roads this year, the industry body said.

Registrations dipped only in two segments last month executive and luxury saloon cars whose sales fell more than 15 and 6.3 respectively, SMMT said.

Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich…