Electric vehicle sales surge in Ireland: statistics

DUBLIN — The share of electric vehicles (EVs) in total new car sales in Ireland has more than doubled in the first 11 months of this year, the country’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Wednesday.

In the January-November period of this year, a total of 16,001 new EVs were sold in Ireland, accounting for 15.83 percent of all the new cars sold in the country, compared to 7.5 percent in the same period of last year, the CSO said in a press statement.

Of all the new EVs sold in the first 11 months of this year, 8,414 were battery electric vehicles (BEVs) or electric-only vehicles and 7,587 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

The share of BEVs in total new car sales also increased from 4.6 percent in the first 11 months of 2020 to 8.3 percent in 2021, the CSO said.

A total of 101,021 new cars were sold in Ireland in the first 11 months of this year, up 21.3 percent year-on-year, according to the CSO.

In a recently released climate action plan, the Irish government said that it aims to increase the number of EVs in the country to 945,000 by 2030 as part of its efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Currently, there are 45,000 EVs in Ireland, according to the climate action plan.

The Irish government provides a wide range of support to incentivize the purchase of EVs.

These include a maximum grant of 5,000 euros (5,670 U.S. dollars) for the purchase of a new BEV priced below 60,000 euros and a subsidy of up to 600 euros for installing a home charger unit for both new and used BEVs or PHEVs.

BEV users in Ireland also enjoy a 50 percent discount on bridge and road tolls in the country.