New figures from the Central Statistics Office show a 25% decrease in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time during the first 11 months of this year compared to the same time in 2023 – continuing the trend of the last few months.
The CSO said that 15% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 19% the same time last year – 16,786 compared to 22,249.
But the CSO reported growth in the licensing of petrol & electric hybrid vehicles, with the number of these vehicles increasing by 32% from 17,943 in the first 11 months of 2023 to 23,752 in the same time of 2024.
The CSO noted that in the first 11 months of 2024, 36,208 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 38,373 in the same period of 2023, a fall of 6%.
Comparing the same 11 month period in 2023 and 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed rose by 3% from 25,724 to 26,562.
Overall, the total number of new cars licensed in November fell by 12% to 2,204 from 2,291 the same time last year.
Car sales are down 1% so far this year to 115,639 from 116,360 the same time in 2023.
Today’s CSO figures also show that the total number of used private cars licensed in the first 11 months of 2024 rose by a quarter (25%) compared with the same period in 2023 – rising to 58,132 from 46,570.
They also reveal that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in November 2024, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Tesla and BMW.
Together, these five makes represented 44% of all new private cars licensed in November , the CSO noted.
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in November 2024 was the Tesla Model 3, followed by the Tesla Model Y and the Nissan Leaf.
Article Source – 25% fall in new electric car sales so far this year – CSO – RTE