Electric car sales doubled in February, despite an overall decline of 12 per cent in new vehicle registrations.
New car registrations for February were down 12.2 per cent (12,031) when compared to February 2021 (13,698), the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) said. Registrations during the year to date were down 4.6 per cent (37,058) on the same period last year (38,838).
However, 1,620 new electric vehicles were registered this February compared to 805 in February 2021. So far this year, 4,320 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 1,782 during the same period in 2021.
SIMI said electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hybrids continue to increase their market share in Ireland, with a combined market share now of 44 per cent.
Despite a large decrease in market share for internal combustion engine type vehicles, petrol remains dominant at 27.39 per cent, with diesel accounting for 25.92 per cent, hybrid 24.23 per cent, electric 11.66 per cent and plug-in electric hybrid 8.01 per cent.
“Despite strong demand for new and used cars, supply continues to be a major issue, with any potential recovery unlikely to happen until the second half of 2022 at the earliest,” said Brian Cooke, director general of SIMI.
“Despite this challenge, the number of new electric cars continues to grow with registrations doubling for the month of February when compared with the same month last year.
“There are now over 50,000 electric vehicles (combined EV and PHEV) on Irish roads, and there is increasing consumer interest for these vehicles.”
Charging infrastructure
Mr Cooke said it is “essential” that Ireland’s charging infrastructure keeps pace with this acceleration in the electrification of the country’s car fleet: “In this context ongoing support from Government in the charging network is vital if we are to convince more consumers that an electric vehicle is a viable choice of car for their driving needs.”
Meanwhile, February figures showed Light Commercials Vehicle (LCV) registrations were down 30.9 per cent (2,292) compared to the same month last year (3,316).
Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations were meanwhile up 7.56 per cent (242) in comparison to February 2021 (225).
Used car imports for February (3,807) saw a decrease of 33.9 per cent on February 2021 (5,758). Year to date imports were down 37.6 per cent (7,848) on 2021 (12,579).
