Electric cars overtake hybrids as the most popular new cars this year

SIMI director general Brian Cooke said July is the highest monthly sales battery electric cars have 'ever achieved'

Electric car sales account for 9,682, a 98% increase on the 4,898 recorded in July 2025.

Electric car sales nearly doubled in July reaching 9,682, compared to the same month last year, overtaking hybrid vehicles as the most popular car type in the country, new data Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) shows.

In July, there were 29,046 new car registrations, up 8.63% from the 26,738 recorded in July last year. Registrations year to date are up 5.2% to 114,228 on the same period last year.

Electric car sales account for 9,682, a 98% increase on the 4,898 recorded in July 2025. So far this year, 29,840 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 61% increase compared to the same period in 2025.

SIMI director general Brian Cooke said this is the highest monthly sales battery electric cars have “ever achieved”.

“Battery electric vehicles were not just the most popular engine type for July; they have now overtaken hybrid cars as the most popular for the year to date with 29,840 units registered, a 61% increase on last year, and now account for 26% of Ireland’s new car market.” 

In the new car market share by engine type, battery electric cars achieved the lead market position for the first time this year with 26.12%, followed by hybrid petrol-electric at 24.59%, petrol at 20.39%, plug-in hybrid at 14.45%, and diesel at 12.45%.

Mr Cook said:

This increase in battery electric vehicle sales would not have been achieved without Government supports. 

"In particular, the Government’s pilot scrappage scheme, introduced in July, along with the existing battery electric vehicle grant supports, have helped build on market momentum.”

The best selling new car in July was the Skoda Octavia while the best selling electric car was the Volkswagen ID.4 which is also the best selling electric car so far this year.

In other vehicle categories, there were 5,744 light commercial vehicles registered during July, up 6%, with registrations of heavy goods vehicles increasing by 14.2% to 433.

Registration of imported used cars rose 27% during the month to 8.616.