Almost a third of new private cars licensed so far this year electric – CSO
Updated / Tuesday, 10 Nov 2026 11:34
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New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that almost a third of new private cars licensed in the first 10 months of this year were electric.
Today’s figures show the number of new private electric cars licensed in October jumped by 62% to 1,850 compared to 1,144 during the same month last year.
In the first 10 months of this year, the CSO said there was a 57% rise in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same time last year, with the number jumping to 35,483 from 22,613.
The share of electric vehicles among new private cars from January to October now stands at 29% compared with 19% in the same time of last year.
Over the same 10 month timeframe, there was a fall of 22% in the number of new petrol cars licensed to 23,976 from 30,569. There was also a 24% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed to 15,179 from 20,066.
The CSO noted that the licensing of hybrid vehicles decreased by 16% from 808 in October of last year to 681 in October 2026, but the number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) licensed grew by 13% to 698 from 616.
Overall, the total number of new private cars licensed in October rose by 6% when compared with October 2025, increasing to 4,323 from 4,096.
The CSO noted that the combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to October was down compared to 2025, falling to 31% from 43%.
Today’s figures also show the number of used (imported) cars licensed grew by 14% to 7,843 in October from 6,898 the same time last year. The share of EVs among used cars from January to October 2026 was 11% compared with 5% in the same time in 2025, the CSO added.
Meanwhile, a total of 31,584 new goods vehicles licensed from January to October, an increase of 7% on the 29,463 licensed over the same time of 2025.
Today’s figures also show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in October at 578 vehicles, followed by Toyota (387), Skoda (372), Kia (296), and Tesla (252).
Together, these five makes represented 44% of all new private cars licensed in October.
The most popular model of new electric car licensed in October 2026 was the Tesla Model 3 (195), followed by the Volkswagen ID.4 (149), and the MG MG4 (102).
