Almost half of new cars licensed in October were electric or hybrid

Almost half of new private cars licensed last month were electric, PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) or hybrid, as Irish consumers demonstrate “preferences for climate friendly options”.

Latest vehicle licensing figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that one-in-four new cars licensed in October were electric, with the share rising to 45 per cent when PHEV and hybrid cars are included.

There were 21,667 new electric cars licensed in the 10 months from January to October 2023, a 47 per cent increase on the 14,707 licensed over the same period last year.

In the first 10 months of 2023, 19 per cent of all new cars licensed were electric compared with 15 per cent in the same period in 2022.

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Dr Nele van der Wielen, statistician in the transport section of the CSO, said the figures “show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland”, and demonstrate “consumer preferences for climate friendly options”.

A report published by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) on Thursday noted that the value of car loans jumped by almost 50 per cent in the second quarter of this year, partly due to an increasing consumer appetite for electric vehicles.

Among new cars licensed last month which were not electric or hybrid, 28.5 per cent were petrol, and 24.1 per cent were diesel.

The number of new petrol cars licensed in the first 10 months of the year rose by 28 per cent when compared to 2022, reaching 37,714. The number of new diesel cars licensed fell by 4 per cent, with a total of 25,162 licensed in the first 10 months of this year.

The CSO figures show that a total of 4,581 new private cars were licensed for the first time in October, up 1 per cent on October 2022 figures. In the 10 months from January to October 2023, there were 114,069 new private cars licensed, up 16 per cent on the same period last year.

The number of used cars licensed is also on the rise, with 4,307 used private cars licensed last month, up 13 per cent on October 2022. In the 10 months from January to October, the number of used cars licensed reached 41,898, a 5 per cent increase on the same period in 2022.

Volkswagen was the most popular car make, accounting for 12 per cent of all private vehicles licensed in October, followed by Skoda (9 per cent), and Kia, BMW and Toyota.