Number of new electric cars licensed a third higher than in 2024

The number of new electric cars licensed so far this year has jumped by 34% compared with the first seven months of 2024, new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show.

Up to the end of July, 17,075 new private electric cars were licensed – just over a third more than the 12,765 licensed in the same period of 2024.

The CSO’s month-on-month comparison showed a 64% rise, with 3,973 electric vehicles (EVs) registered in July 2025 compared with 2,421 in the same month last year.

The share of EVs among new private cars licensed from January to July 2025 was 17% compared with 14% in the same period of 2024.

The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed in July 2025 grew by 56% when compared with July 2024 – 3,080 against 1,974.

This has increased the year-to-date share of PHEVs among new private cars from 9% to 15% in the same period of 2024.

The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to July 2025 has fallen in comparison with 2024 (44% vs 56%).

The figures also show that the number of new private cars licensed in July 2025 rose by 8% when compared with July 2024, from 18,512 to 19,923.

The number of used (imported) cars licensed rose by 17%, from 5,660 to 6,640 over the same period.

Damien Lenihan, statistician in the transport section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 64% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in July 2025 when compared with the same month in 2024.

“We also saw growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.

“There were 26,454 new petrol cars licensed compared with 30,911 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 14%.

“Comparing the first seven months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% (16,681 vs 21,624).

There were 1,614 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in July 2025, compared with 1,490 in the same period of 2024, a rise of 8%.

“Used private petrol cars licensed decreased by 9% in July 2025 compared with July 2024 (2,799 vs 2,577).”

Data also shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in July 2025 at 2,851 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (2,358), Hyundai (2,142), Skoda (2,093), and Kia (1,524).

Together, these five manufacturers represented 55% of all new private cars licensed in July 2025, the figures show.

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in July 2025 was Volkswagen ID.4 (343), followed by Hyundai Inster (325), and Kia EV 3 (272).