Only 6% of State-owned vehicles are electric or hybrid

Solely electric vehicles accounted for 552 of State-owned vehicles. File photo

Just over 6% of State-owned vehicles are electric or hybrid models, compared to 8% of vehicles owned by the general public, new figures from the Department of Transport have shown.

As of 31 December 2023, 769 (6.4%) out of the 12,728 State-owned vehicles were electric or some form of hybrid.

Solely electric vehicles accounted for 552 of State-owned vehicles followed by petrol/electric hybrids (142), petrol/plug-in hybrids (46) and diesel/electric hybrids (29) while the remaining 11,959 vehicles are run on petrol or diesel only.

In comparison, just over 8% (190,339) of cars owned by drivers in Ireland are electric or hybrid vehicles. More than 1.2 million cars are diesel while over 811,000 are petrol. Some 57,730 are solely electric.

The figures were provided through a parliamentary question to Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore who described the amount of State-owned electric vehicles and hybrids as “very low”.

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“I would have expected to see a much greater representation of EVs in the State stock of vehicles and I think it just shows that the Government itself has not taken this seriously.

“They’re not showing leadership when it comes to the purchase and use of these vehicles and I think it’s quite shocking,” she said.

Ms Whitmore said people in general are taking their responsibility seriously when it comes to climate-friendly transitions, noting that the public is ahead in terms of the percentage of electric vehicles or hybrids.

“When they can afford to make the changes, they are making them and it is expensive to move to a new car. We see it across EVs but also retrofitting, the public are actually doing what the Government is asking them to do.

“Unfortunately, the Government is not reciprocating and doing what they can and what is possible within their own structures,” she said. The Department of Transport did not respond to a requests for comment by the time of publishing.

Charger grants

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Eamon Ryan defended the 50% reduction in the home charger grant scheme which was cut from €600 to €300 on January 1.

Mr Ryan said the Government's investment strategy for electric vehicles will begin a “re-balance” this year towards supporting public charging infrastructure.

“This is the rationale behind the reduction in the grant available for home chargers. It is important to emphasise that Government support for the transition to EVs remains a key action in meeting our climate targets,” he said.

Some €102m has been allocated in 2024 to fund EV grants and EV charging infrastructure.

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He said the department will begin the delivery of public charging points on the motorway and national road networks this year, as well as "destination charging" in sports clubs and community charging facilities.

It will also support local authorities with the development and delivery of local EV charging networks.

The Government's Climate Action Plan aims to have 945,000 EVs on Irish roads by the end of the decade, a target Mr Ryan described as “challenging”.

“But [it] indicates the scale of the transformation that is needed across all sectors if Ireland is to achieve its climate targets in the coming years,” he said.

Mr Ryan said demand for EVs is rising year on year while newer models at a lower cost are arriving on the Irish market.