Almost one in five new cars electric, CSO data shows

The number of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles grew by 51% when compared with August 2024.

New private electric vehicle registrations jumped by 53% in August, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

It means the share of EVs among new cars from January to August 2025 was 18% compared with 14% in the same eight-month period of 2024.

The CSO said the number of new private cars licensed in August rose by 1% to 9,355. However, EVs accounted for 2,394 of those compared to 1,568 EVs registered in the same month last ytear.

The number of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) grew by 51% when compared with August 2024, which has increased the year-to-date share of PHEVs among new private cars from 9% to 15%.

The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to August has fallen from 55% in 2024, to 44% this year.

Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in August at 1,216 vehicles, followed by Toyota (1,061), Škoda (1,000), Hyundai (725) and Kia (725). Together, these five makes represented 51% of all new private cars licensed in August.

"The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in August 2025 was Volkswagen id.4 (231), followed by Skoda Elroq (149), and BYD Sealion 7 (141)," he said.