Total number of electric cars registered down 24% so far this year

Only 12,765 new fully electric cars were down licensed during the first seven months of the year — down from 16,766 last year. 

The total number of new electric cars licensed for the first time has dropped 24% during the first seven months of the year while the popularity of hybrid options continues to increase, new data shows.

According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), last month 18,512 new private cars were registered for the first time — a 2% increase on the same time last year.

Between January and July, there were 94,231 new cars registered, an increase of 3% year-on-year. However, only 12,765 of these were fully electric cars down from 16,766.

The data shows the continued shift from electric cars to hybrid. The number of new petrol and electric hybrid cars licensed during this period rose by 33% to 19,230.

The number of new diesel cars being sold also increased 10% to 21,624 while the number of petrol cars sold fell slightly from 31,155 to 30,911.

Toyota was the most popular brand of new car licensed during July with 2,546 sold. The company was followed by Volkswagen with 2,456 cars sold, and Hyundai with 2,164 cars sold.

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in July was the Volkswagen ID.4 with 336, followed by Tesla Model Y with 190, and Kia EV 6 at 119.

In the used car market, there were 9,841 used-diesel private cars, which were imported, licensed in the first seven months of the year, compared with 9,506 last year - an increase of 4%. The total number of used imported vehicles licensed so far this year is up 28% to 36,753 year-on-year.