One in five new cars licensed in first quarter 2022 was EV or PHEV

One in five new cars licensed in first quarter 2022 was EV or PHEV

New electric and plug-in hybrid cars accounted for 21% of all new cars licensed in the first quarter of 2022, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The CSO published Vehicles licensed for the first time for March 2022, figures based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport.

The figures show that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in March 2022 was 11,872 compared with 10,672 in March 2021, a rise of 11%.

The number of new cars licensed in March 2022 rose by 1,200 (+11%) vehicles compared with March 2021,  and in the first quarter of 2022, 21% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV)

In the first quarter of 2022, 26% of new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 36% in the same period in 2021, and there was a fall of 2,688 (-41%) used private cars licensed in March 2022 compared with March 2021

Commenting on the data, statistician Dr Nele van der Wielen said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland. The number of new electric cars licensed has more than doubled from 2,314 in the first quarter of 2021 to 5,388 in 2022. At the same time the number of new diesel cars is decreasing. For the first quarter of 2022, 10,609 new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 14,266 in the same period in 2021.”

“The number of used cars licensed in the first quarter of 2022 was 46% less than those licensed in the same period in 2021 (11,517 compared with 21,395).”