Number of new electric vehicles  bought in Ireland fell by more than 5,000 last year

CSO figures reveal a 24% decrease in the number of EVs licensed for the first time in 2024 when compared with 2023.

The number of new electric vehicles (EV) bought in Ireland fell by more than 5,000 last year.

Figures from the CSO show a 24% (or 5,398) decrease in the number of EVs licensed for the first time in 2024 (17,191) when compared with 2023 (22,493). That represents a fall from 2023, where 19% of all new cars were electric, to just 15% in 2024.

But there was better news on the second hand or used market, where there were 7,698 used plug-in hybrid electric private cars licensed in 2024, up 87% on the total of 4,111 licensed in 2023.

In total, there were 116,683 new cars licensed in Ireland last year which is also a drop compared to 2023's figure of 117,424.

Similarly, when it came to second hand or used cars, there was a major jump, with the 2024 figure rising by 23% (61,838 compared to 50,381)

The number of new hybrid cars licensed increased by 25% from 20,270 in 2023 to 25,270 in 2024. This has driven up the share of hybrids among new private cars from 17% to 22% in 2024.

Meanwhile, there were 36,433 new cars licensed that were fueled by petrol compared with 38,746 in the same period of 2023, a fall of 6%. 

The number of new diesel cars licensed rose by 3% (25,938 vs 26,728).

Climate target

Under Ireland's Climate Action Plan 2023, there is a target to have 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030.

In order to assist with that, the public can get a grant of up to €3,500 for battery-powered electric vehicles (BEV). However, the grant for BEVs only applies to new cars with a full price of between €14,000 and €60,000. Previously, there had been a grant for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles worth €2,500 but that was removed in 2021.

In Cork, there were 12,855 new cars licensed for the first time and 4,821 second hand or used cars licensed for the first time.

Last month, Brian Cooke, the director general of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), told the Irish Examiner that there had been a number of decisions which sent a "negative" message around the transition to EVs.

“The reduction — in the home charging grant, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) purchase grant — and removal of incentives like the toll discount not only have a monetary impact on consumers but also send a negative message to Irish consumers about the Government’s view of the transition to EVs.

"Reinstating supports and extending consumer incentives and benefit-in-kind support, along with investment in charging infrastructure now, will build consumer and business confidence to encourage uptake if we are to meet our 2025 target.

“The new programme for Government must take decisive actions to regain the lost momentum; increase investment in EVs and don’t increase taxes on other vehicles if we want to support consumers in trading up to a newer lower emitting vehicle.”

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The CSO also broke down the figures into car makes and models.

That breakdown reveals that most people who bought a new car in 2024 were buying Toyotas.

In total there were 16,486 new Toyotas bought across the year, with Volkswagen (13,314), Skoda (11,385), Hyundai (10,721), and Kia (8,523 completing the top five most popular manufacturers for new cars last year.

Together, these five makes represented 52% of all new private cars licensed in 2024. But it is a different story when it comes to those who were buying second hand or used cars.

There, it was Volkswagen (12,851) who came out on top, with almost as many people buying second-hand Volkswagens as there were buying new. Audi (7,836), BMW (6,953), Toyota (4,896) and Mercedes Benz (3,995) round out the top five makes when it comes to used cars.