New car registrations year to date are slightly up on the same period in 2021, 10.1% behind pre-Covid levels in 2019. However, data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry notes that EV registrations saw a huge jump from January to November this year, as per Business Plus.
Electric Vehicle, Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to grow their market share, with a combined market share of 41% through 2022.
Last month, 343 new EVs were registered, an increase from 190 in November last year. 15,590 new electric cars were registered year to date, in contrast to 8,530 in 2021, a growth of 83%.
Top five car models
According to SIMI data, the year-to-date top 5 car models are Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Kia Sportage, Toyota C-HR, and Volkswagen ID.4.
Best-selling electric models
The bestselling electric models are Volkswagen ID.4, Hyundai Ioniq 5, Tesla Model 3, Kia EV6, and Volkswagen ID.3.
Vehicle registrations
In 2021 figures, light commercial vehicle registration was down 18.0% year-to-date, Heavy Goods Vehicle registrations were down 8.7%, and used car imports were down 26.6%.
Notably, petrol remains the market leader at 30.2% of new car registrations, followed by diesel at 26.8%, hybrid at 19.3%, electric at 14.8%, and plug-in electric hybrid at 6.8%.
For the first time in 2022, Electric Vehicles were the top selling engine type for the month of November. With the forthcoming announcement of the revised Climate Action Plan, it is fundamental that policymakers support their climate ambitions and invest in the electrification project.
Tom Cullen, deputy director general at SIMI
He added that the strong performance of the EV market is due to the support of the SEAI grant scheme and incentives urging customers to shift to electric vehicles.
Cullen explained that any early removal or reduction in support would only lead to the increased cost to change, less demand, restrained customer confidence, and place Ireland down the manufacturers’ list of electric vehicle supply availability.
Further constraints could hold back growth
Cullen also pointed out that the new car market is experiencing challenges with supply and increasing energy costs. Any more constraints hold back the EV market growth.
The national charging infrastructure is important to giving confidence to the EV transition, and its development also needs to be ahead of the demand.
