No more oil changes: Ireland's car dealers face a changed landscape as electric vehicle sales surge

Direct sales to customers also threaten to upend the sector

EV sales jumped last year, but every new car sold in Ireland would have to be either an electric car or a plug-in hybrid to meet 2030 targets.

The high rate of electric car adoption over the last few years has been a “positive story” but unfortunately the Government’s climate target of 845,000 electric cars on the road by 2030 was an “unrealistic target” and it “shouldn’t undermine what we’re trying to achieve,” the director general of Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) has said.

During 2025, new electric car registrations saw a significant resurgence, rising by 36% to 23,398 after a concerning drop-off in 2024. In 2023, new electric car registrations stood at 22,493.