New electric car registrations drop by more than 40% in May

Overall car sales for the month were somewhat down but while all other car types saw slight increases, the number of newly licensed electric cars took a sharp downturn

Between January and May, the number of new electric cars licensed for the first time is down 20% compared to the same period in 2023. 

The number of new electric cars licensed for the first time in May plummeted by more than 40% compared to the same period last year as the slowdown in their adoption continues.

According to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), in total there were 10,055 new private cars registered for the first time last month which is a slight decline from the 10,452 recorded in May 2023.

Increases were seen in the number of new petrol and diesel cars licensed during the month with petrol cars up nearly 400 compared to last year to 4,075 while diesel cars were up 20 to 2,180.

Hybrid cars, including plug-in hybrids, also saw a marginal increase from 2,520 to 2,586.

While all other car types saw slight increases, the number of newly licensed electric cars took a sharp downturn with just 1,234 registered last month compared to 2,090 during May 2023.

This continues a trend seen throughout much of the year. In the first five months of 2024, the number of electric cars licensed decreased by 20% compared to the same period in 2023 — 9,458 down from 11,918.

Change in consumer preferences

The data suggests a change in consumer preferences with the number of petrol and electric hybrid cars licensed between January and May increasing by 49% from 14,712 compared to 9,864 last year.

Overall, there were more than 72,000 new cars licensed for the first time between January and May.

The number of used cars licensed in the first five months of 2024 increased by 27% year-on-year from 20,345 to 25,865.