The number of new electric cars licensed here during the first five months of the year was more than double for the same period in 2021.
According to figures published by the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there were 7,825 new electric cars licensed here between the beginning of January and the end of May. Over the same period last year, just 3,678 were licensed.
At the same time, the number of newly-licensed diesel cars fell by 11% to the end of May 2022, and the number of used or imported private diesel cars dropped by 63.56% from 20,057 between January and May of 2021 versus just 7,307 in the same period this year.
Overall, the number of used cars licensed here by the end of last month decreased by 43% compared with 2021 - a decline from over 34,000 to just under 20,000.
The figures also show that electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hybrids are continuing to increase their market share. Hybrids now account for 22.87% of cars on Irish roads, with electric cars accounting for 13.10% and PHEVs accounting for 7.17%.
The number of new electric cars licensed has more than doubled in the first five months of 2022 compared with same period in 2021https://t.co/7l4a4IGGwi #CSOIreland #Ireland #IrishTransport #TransportIreland #Transport #VehicleLicensing #NewVehicle #Business #BusinessStatistics pic.twitter.com/C2low47kSW
— Central Statistics Office Ireland (@CSOIreland) June 8, 2022
However, petrol remains the most dominant individual fuel type with a 27.96% market share, followed by diesel at 26.46%.
“Today’s figures from the CSO show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland," said CSO statistician Nele van der Wielen.
Mr van der Wielen said the data clearly shows how the number of new diesel cars was decreasing. "For the first five months of 2022, 15,419 new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 20,032 in the same period in 2021."
Some 1,033 new Toyota cars were licensed here last month, making it the most popular car brand overall with Irish motorists. Volkswagen was the second-most popular with 896 new registrations, followed by Hyundai with 876, Skoda with 507 and BMW with 439.
Together, these five brands represented 53% of all new private cars licensed last month.
