Business

EV sales slide accelerates, Simi figures show

Registration of electric vehicles down 19% over first four months of the year against background of a 6% rise in overall car sales

Sales of electric vehicles have slumped this year, with the trend worsening in recent months. Photograph: iStock

Dominic Coyle
Wed May 1 2024 - 16:13

Sales of electric vehicles continue to fall further behind last years numbers, according to figures published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (Simi).

Overall new car registrations were 3.6 per cent weaker in April than in the same month last year, with 8,591 cars registered over the month. But sales of electric vehicles was 41.4 per cent behind the April 2023 figure with just 1,091 registered.

So far this year figures for electric vehicles are down 19.1 per cent on the same four months in 2023. That continues a gradual worsening of the figures over recent months. At the end of March the year-to-date figure was 14.3 per cent weaker than last year. That compares with a 6 per cent rise in overall registrations so far this year.

“The electric vehicle segment experienced another month of decline in registrations, a trend which is being replicated across most EU markets,” Simi director general Brian Cooke said. “With the supply of new EVs no longer an issue, and with an increasing number of brands and models present in the EV segment, the drop in EV sales is demand driven. In Ireland private consumers have been the key drivers of the EV market, and these buyers need greater reassurances to be convinced to make the change. This means rapid investment by the Government in a reliable, convenient, and affordable electric charging infrastructure, while at the same time extending current incentives such as the purchase grant.

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“For businesses and their employees, extension of the benefit-in-kind (BIK) relief and thresholds at current levels beyond 2024 will create greater confidence that an EV is the right choice for their companies,” he said.

David Savage, EMEA vice-president for transport software group Geotab, said the fall in EV registrations made for “dismal reading and highlights that the Irish Government’s zero-emission vehicles strategy requires an urgent reboot”. He noted April was the fifth month in the last eight to see a year-on-year decline in EV sales.

He said data from the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association showed that the decline in EV sales in Ireland in the year to March was the worst across the region.

Mr Savage said a primary factor holding the market back was the poor public charging network, “with Ireland ranked as the third worst performing country in the EU27 according to figures compiled by Transport & Environment, in terms of meeting its 2024 EU target”.

Simi said the recent growth in van and truck sales continued in April with a 3 per cent year-on-year in registrations of light commercial vehicles, bringing year to date growth to 29 per cent, and a 37.2 per cent jump in April registrations of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) compared to the same month last year. Year to date registrations of HGVs are now up 19.5 per cent.

A feature of the figures is the return of growth in imported used cars. April saw 5,206 imported used cars registered, up 35.6 per cent on the same month last year. To date in 2024 the number of used imports is 27 per cent higher than last year.

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle

Dominic Coyle is Deputy Business Editor of The Irish Times

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