Almost a fifth of new cars registered in the State in the first half of 2023 were electric, according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The accelerated switch to electric motoring here was also illustrated by the fact that Tesla was the most popular brand of new car with Irish motorists in June.
The CSO’s figures show the number of new electric cars licensed in the State rose by 65 per cent from 8,309 in the first half of 2022 to 13,701 in the first half of 2023.
That meant 19 per cent of all new cars licensed in the State so far this year were electric. A further 12,255 hybrid vehicles were registered during the period along with 5,930 plug-in hybrids.
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The CSO noted that more than a quarter (27 per cent) of the new cars licensed between January and June were either PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric) or EV (electric vehicle), compared with just over one-fifth (22 per cent) diesel and 35 per cent petrol.
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Despite long-standing concerns over the availability of public charging infrastructure, the Government hopes to double EV sales this year as part of a wider plan to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles.
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It plans to have almost a million EVs on the road by 2030, comprising 845,000 cars and a further 100,000 vans, trucks and buses.
The latest figures show that Tesla was the most popular make of new private car licensed in June with 833 units registered, followed by Volkswagen (788), Toyota (647), Hyundai (348) and Skoda (345). Together, these five represented more than half (53 per cent) of all new private cars licensed in June, the CSO said.
Of the 73,166 vehicles registered so far this year, 25,446 or 35 per cent were petrol cars, up from 17,465 last year. New diesel cars licensed decreased by 5 per cent from 8,667 to 8,258 in the same period.
Separately, the total number of used (imported) vehicles licensed in the first six months of 2023 was up 6 per cent compared with the same period in 2022.
