The transition to electric vehicles (EVs) appears to have slowed as the number of newly registered electric cars decreased by near 10 per cent in the first quarter. According to figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO), 6,780 new EVs were registered in the first three months of 2024, showing a 9.7 per cent drop compared to the 7,513 EVs registered in the same period the previous year.
The adoption of EVs has been hampered by concerns about rapid battery degradation and the slow expansion of charging infrastructure, which induce ‘range anxiety’ for motorists. The Government’s Climate Action Plan is reliant on the phasing out of conventional petrol and diesel vehicles, with a target of nearly a million EVs on Irish roads by 2030, including 845,000 cars and an additional 100,000 vans, trucks, and buses. However, recent statistics indicate that these goals may be challenging to meet.
The CSO’s data reveals that electric vehicles constituted 14 per cent of all new cars registered in the first quarter, compared to 16 per cent in the same timeframe in 2023. In total, the number of new private cars of all types registered saw a 9 per cent increase to 49,756 in the first quarter of 2024. Of these, petrol cars numbered 15,284, down by 6 per cent from 16,292 in 2023, while new diesel car registrations rose by 14 per cent for the same period.
Registrations of new petrol and electric hybrid vehicles climbed dramatically by 59 per cent, from 7,032 to 11,202, in the opening quarter of 2024.
The top-selling brand of new private cars in March was Skoda, with 1,959 vehicles registered, followed by Toyota (1,865), Volkswagen (1,852), Hyundai (1,082), and Kia (987). The CSO reports that these five brands accounted for slightly more than half (52 per cent) of all new private car registrations in that month.
In the electric car sphere, the Tesla Model Y was the most commonly registered new electric car in March, with 234 vehicles, followed by the Tesla Model 3 (189) and the MG4 (106).
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