Ireland’s electric vehicle adoption is starting to gain momentum, with a remarkable improvement in the number of licensed EVs in the first half of 2023. However, petrol-powered vehicles remain dominant in the country’s automotive industry.
New licensed cars in the first half of the year, EVs show progress
Ireland has successfully achieved a year-on-year increase of 65% in its new electric vehicle licensing to 13,701 units in the first half of 2023 from just 8,309 units in the prior year, Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) latest data shows.
The CSO further noted that electric vehicles accounted for a record 19% of all new cars licensed in H1 2023, a notable increase from just 13% in 2022.
However, polluting petrol-powered cars still beat EVs’ records, with 25,446 licensed units in the year’s first six months. That figure represents a whopping YoY growth of 46% to just 17,465 in 2022.
Fortunately, diesel-powered cars saw a decline of 5% to 8,258 from 8,667 in the same period last year.
In June alone, new cars license reached 5,584 units, representing a 48% YoY growth from just 3,774 in the prior year. Meanwhile, secondhand imported cars licensed in H1 2023 also noted a 5% increase to 24,452 units.
Number of vehicles licensed for the first time
| June | 2022 | 2023 | Change | January – June | 2022 | 2023 | Change | ||
| New private cars | 3,774 | 5,584 | 1,810 | 48% | New private cars | 62,268 | 73,166 | 10,898 | 18% |
| New goods vehicles | 1,604 | 2,404 | 800 | 50% | New goods vehicles | 12,522 | 15,600 | 3,078 | 25% |
| New other vehicles | 714 | 906 | 192 | 27% | New other vehicles | 6,732 | 7,492 | 760 | 11% |
| Total new vehicles | 6,092 | 8,894 | 2,802 | 46% | Total new vehicles | 81,522 | 96,258 | 14,736 | 18% |
| Used private cars | 3,944 | 4,107 | 163 | 4% | Used private cars | 23,254 | 24,452 | 1,198 | 5% |
| Used goods vehicles | 677 | 806 | 129 | 19% | Used goods vehicles | 4,139 | 4,668 | 529 | 13% |
| Used other vehicles | 1,031 | 1,001 | -30 | -3% | Used other vehicles | 5,724 | 5,824 | 100 | 2% |
| Total used vehicles | 5,652 | 5,914 | 262 | 5% | Total used vehicles | 33,117 | 34,944 | 1,827 | 6% |
Top-selling automakers – June 2023
The report indicated that Tesla led the pack with an unbeatable record of 833 new cars licensed in June. German automaker Volkswagen followed with 788 units.
The top five were completed by Japan’s Toyota (647), South Korea’s Hyundai (348), and Czech Republic’s Skoda (345).
These top five major automakers account for 53% of all new private cars licensed in the sixth month of the year.
Top 5 brands in June:
| Brand | Sales |
| Tesla | 833 |
| Volkswagen | 788 |
| Toyota | 647 |
| Hyundai | 348 |
| Skoda | 345 |
What propels the EV sale to surge in Ireland?
As per the Head of Communications at AA Ireland, Paddy Comyn, the impressive progress in Ireland’s EV sales and licensing is driven by several factors. He claims that the supply flow improvement, looming EV grants reduction on July 1, and a wider selection in brand and price range are among the most significant factors that aided the country in achieving record sales in the first half of the year.
“Supply has freed up. This time last year we were looking at real supply issues due to a chip shortage and that was effecting EV (electric vehicle) sales dramatically. Now this year that has cleared up.”
Paddy Comyn, Head of Communications at AA Ireland
As mentioned, the SEAI grant for EV purchases is set to significantly decrease from €5,000 to €3,500 starting July 1, 2023, urging customers to purchase before the deadline.
“With the decrease in the EV grants there has been a rush to avail of those grants before they were reduced.”
Paddy Comyn, Head of Communications at AA Ireland
Petrol and diesel-powered vehicles are indeed substantially more affordable than EVs, given that the latter is still a newcomer in the industry.
However, the arrival of more EVs in the market provided customers with numerous model and price range options.
“When they came out initially they were expensive and there wasn’t much choice. Now you can get electric cars as low as €28,000 and they go all the way up to well over €100,000. There is a greater choice, there are probably over 70 models available available across various brands.”
Paddy Comyn, Head of Communications at AA Ireland
See Also:
- 70% of buyers consider purchasing EV in Ireland
- Electric vehicle registrations in Ireland grow by over 80%
- Deal for the first Power interconnector between Ireland and France has been reached
- DC fast chargers to replace old phone boxes in Ireland
- Leicester abandons diesel buses in a £22 million EV transition
Ireland has set a target of licensing 945,000 EVs by 2030 as part of its 2021 Climate Action Plan. However, the country seems to be still far from achieving that target, regardless of the remarkable increase in its EV sales this recent quarter.
Nonetheless, such an ambitious target is crucial to influence the government to implement significant measures to further increase EV adoption in the country.
