New Central Statistics Office figures show a 12% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in May with new EVs increasing to 1,382 compared with 1,234 the same month in 2024.
The CSO also reported growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which rose by 35% from 1,055 in May last year to 1,419 vehicles in May of this year.
Comparing the first five months of the year, the CSO said the number of new electric cars licensed increased by 26% from 9,458 in 2024 to 11,877 in 2025. The number of new PHEVs licensed jumped by 74% from 6,300 to 10,988 over the same time period.
Today’s CSO figures show that the total number of new private cars licensed in May fell by 16% to 8,403 compared to the May 2024 figure of 10,055.
But the number of used (imported) cars licensed increased by 10% to 6,144 from 5,592 over the same time.
The CSO said the combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to May has fallen to 44% compared to 56% the same time last year.
In the first five months of 2025, 19,717 new cars licensed were petrol compared with 24,009 in the same time of 2024 – down 18%.
Comparing the first five months of 2025 with 2024, the number of new diesel cars licensed fell by 26% to 12,485 from 16,772.
Today’s statistics also show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in May at 1,405 vehicles, followed by Toyota (1,020), Hyundai (701), Kia (675) and Skoda (674).
Together, these five makes represented 53% of all new private cars licensed in May, the CSO noted.
Meanwhile, the most popular brand of new electric car licensed in May was the Hyundai Getz (104), followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (92), and Skoda Elroq (64).
