New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that 4,913 new electric cars were registered in July, a jump of 57% from the 3,129 registrations in July of last year.
So far this year, a total of 18,542 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 33.7% increase compared to the same time last year, when 13,866 electric cars were registered.
Overall new car registrations for July were up 4.3% to 26,787 when compared to 25,676 the same month last year.
Registrations year to date are up 3.7% to 108,531 on the figure of 104,655 the same time last year.
Meanwhile, the registration of imported used cars increased by 16.8% to 6,803 from 5,825 in July 2024. Year to date imports are up 9.4% to 40,698 from 37,195, SIMI said.
Today’s figures also show that petrol cars continue as the new car market leader at 26.9%, followed by hybrid (petrol electric) at 22.72%, diesel at 17.13%, electric at 17.08% and plug-in electric hybrid at 14.71%.
They also reveal that top selling new Car in July was the Hyundai Tucson, while the top selling new electric car was the Volkswagen ID.4.
According to SIMI, the five top selling car brands so far this year are Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Skoda and Kia.
The five top new car models were the Hyundai Tucson, the Toyota Yaris Cross, the Skoda Octavia, the Toyota Rav 4 and the Kia Sportage.
Meanwhile, the five top selling new EV brands were Volkswagen, Kia, Hyundai, Tesla and Skoda and the five top selling EV models were the Volkswagen ID.4, the Kia EV3, the Tesla Model 4, the Kia EV6 and the Hyundai Inster.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said today’s figures mean that the industry has surpassed the 175,000 EV target (BEV & PHEV combined) for 2025 contained in the Government’s Climate Action Plan.
Mr Cooke said this important landmark on the road to electrification could not have been achieved without the significant levels of Government incentives.
“If we want to continue this momentum, these supports must be maintained and extended well beyond the end of this year,” he urged.
He also noted that Light Commercial Vehicle sales, which had been disappointing during the first quarter of 2025, have bounced back since then, with the July LCV market up 23% on last year, and are now less than 1% behind 2024 year to date.
But Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations are down 19% in July and down 11% year to date.
“The mixed results and market fluctuations in the commercial sector reflect the current economic and political uncertainty,” Brian Cooke added.
