More than a fifth of all new cars licensed in January were electric or plug-in hybrid electric cars, with both vehicle types continuing to increase in popularity, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Some 1,813 electric vehicles were licensed in January 2022, more than double the 739 licensed in the same month last year. Licensing of new plug-in hybrid electric cars grew 82 per cent to 1,507.
The share of all new cars licensed that are electric-only has risen from 4.4 per cent in January 2021 to 11.5 per cent last month.
"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.
Overall, the number of new cars licensed in the month fell 6.7 per cent year-on-year to 15,814, a drop of 1,134.
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed, with 3,559 new licenses, followed by Hyundai (2,041), Nissan (1,109), Kia (1,108) and Volkswagen (1,089). Together these five makes represent 56.3 per cent of all new private cars licensed in January 2022.
Diesel decline
The figures also show a decrease in the number of new diesel cars, with 3,116 such cars licensed last month compared to 5,801 in January 2021.
The proportion of new private cars that are diesel has also fallen over the past year, according to the CSO data. Some 20 per cent of those licensed last month were diesel, down from 34 per cent in January 2021.
There was also a drop of almost 55 per cent, or a fall of 4,440, to 3,686 in the number of used (imported) private cars licensed in January 2022 compared to the same month a year earlier.
The figures are based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport.
