Electric vehicle scheme reaches application limit in minutes

Pilot programme was closed after 'exceptionally strong interest', Department of Transport said

Under the initiative, motorists who permanently scrap a vehicle that is more than 13 years old will qualify for a €5,000 scrappage allowance. 

A Government scheme aimed at replacing older petrol and diesel cars with electric vehicles (EVs) reached its 2,000 application limit in just 75 minutes on Wednesday.

Under the initiative, motorists who permanently scrap a vehicle that is more than 13 years old will qualify for a €5,000 scrappage allowance. 

The payment can be combined with the existing €3,500 EV purchase grant, bringing total support to €8,500.

The pilot programme was closed after "exceptionally strong interest", the Department of Transport said in a statement. 

The scheme is backed by €10m in funding from the Climate Action Fund under the Department of the Environment, meaning 2,000 internal combustion engine vehicles will be removed from the roads and replaced by EVs.

The Government said the scheme was always intended as a pilot and any decision on its future will be made based on the data which comes from the applications.

The scheme was administered by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and early figures indicated a spread of demand across all counties, with 65% of the allocated funding ringfenced for rural areas, the department said.