July was another record month for electric vehicle sales across the country, as the number of new EVs registered last month was up 52 per cent on July of last year.
New vehicle registration statistics for July, released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), show that 4,161 new electric vehicles were registered in Ireland last month, compared to 2,729 EVs registered in July 2022.
So far this year a total of 18,458 new electric cars have been registered, a 65.17 per cent increase on the number of new EVs registered over the same period in 2022.
In July, petrol vehicles retained the largest market share at 32.29 per cent, followed by diesel (22.06 per cent), hybrid (18.04 per cent), electric (17.64 per cent), and plug-in electric hybrid (7.67 per cent).
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A surge in battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hybrids now see their combined market share in the year to date at 43.35 per cent.
SIMI director general Brian Cooke said that July was a record monthly total for EV registrations, driven by improved supply and a greater range of new models available for motorists.
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“The availability of SEAI [Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland] grants to support positive decision-making has been key, and their retention beyond this year, along with other EV incentives, is vital if we want to build on this success,” he said.
Mr Cooke said that consumers who qualify for the SEAI grants are the main driver of growth and account for over 76 per cent of EV sales.
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He added that there also “needs to be a focus on the business market”, such as extension of the benefit-in-kind reliefs in the upcoming budget, as well as investment in public charging infrastructure.
Total new car registrations for the month of July reached 27,148, up 24 per cent on July 2022 (21,904).
New car registrations in the year to date (104,641) are up 20.1 per cent on the same period last year, and are less than 1 per cent behind total new car sales before the pandemic in 2019.
Commercial registrations, both the light and heavy sector, are also “well ahead of last year” according to SIMI, with light commercial vehicle registrations up 42.5 per cent on July last year, and heavy goods vehicle registrations up 27.6 per cent.
Registrations of second-hand cars remain well below pre-pandemic levels. In the year to date, second-hand vehicle imports are up 3.96 per cent on last year’s figures, to a total of 29,435. However, they are down 52.91 per cent compared to the 62,508 second-hand vehicles registered over the same period in 2019.
