July saw a dramatic rise in the number of electric vehicles licenced for the first time, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office.
There were 7,216 newly-licenced electric cars in the month – up 82% on figures from July 2025.
At the same time the number of petrol cars licenced for the first time fell 31% to 3,449, while diesel licencing fell by year-on-year to 30% to 2,262.
It meant that electric cars were the most popular category of vehicle by fuel-type, representing more than a third of all newly-licenced vehicles in the month.
Over the first seven months of the year, 26,796 electric cars were newly licenced – up 57% year-on-year. So far this year, EVs made up 26% of all newly-licenced vehicles.
Hybrid vehicles made up 26,467 of all new licences in the first seven months of the year, giving them a similar market share to EVs. That was despite licencing of this vehicle type falling by 3% in July.
The popularity of plug-in hybrids also dipped slightly in the month, though is up slightly in the year so far. They represented 15% of all newly-licenced vehicles between January and July.
Overall, the number of vehicles licenced for the first time rose 870 (4%) in the month and 6,494 (5%) between January and July.
There was a sharper increase in imported vehicles – which rose 2,615 (8%) in the month and 21,836 (12%) so far this year.
Toyota was the most popular brand of car in July and across the first seven months of the year, with a 13.4% and 13.8% market share respectively.
However, when imported cars are included, Volkswagen was more popular, with a 14.4% share in the month and a 14.6% share so far this year.
The Toyota Yaris Cross was the best-selling model – with 509 licenced in July, while Volkswagen’s ID.4 was the best-selling electric car, with 464 vehicles licenced.
