New figures from Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show 2,799 electric cars were registered during the month, up 109.7pc from 1,335 in April last year.<\/p>\n
The surge comes as drivers respond to higher running costs, speeding up the shift towards electric.<\/p>\n
The spike in EV demand helped lift the wider market with overall new car registrations rising 17pc in April to 10,184 units. However, growth across the year remains more modest with registrations up 2pc to 75,074 vehicles so far in 2026.<\/p>\n
EVs are continuing to take a larger share of the market. A total of 16,779 EVs have been registered year to date, up 49pc on the same period last year. They now account for 22pc of all new car sales, the report said.<\/p>\n
Brian Cooke, director general of SIMI, said the strength in battery electric vehicles (BEV) sales is being driven by private buyers and warned momentum must be maintained.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strong performance in BEV sales is driven by private consumers, who account for 77pc of sales, with this sector of the market being supported by strong Government incentives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe momentum behind the EV project is there, and we must build on this. Now is not the time to reduce supports. The Government must maintain and extend current incentives for consumers and businesses while investing in infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
The latest figures show Hyundai, Volkswagen and Kia among the top-selling electric vehicle brands in Ireland this year.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for Volkswagen Group Ireland said the rise in registrations reflects a broader shift in consumer behaviour.<\/p>\n
“The acceleration in electric vehicle registrations shows more Irish motorists are confidently making the switch to electromobility,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been driven by a number of factors including, fuel costs, improved charging infrastructure, government incentives and a stronger overall value proposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cEVs are an affordable, practical and accessible choice for everyday driving and this is being reflected in strong uptake among Irish motorists.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hybrid vehicles remain the most popular choice in the new car market at 26.7pc, followed EVs at 22pc and petrol at 21.3pc.<\/p>\n
Plug-in hybrids account for 14.4pc while diesel continues to decline now making up 12.9pc of the market.<\/p>\n
Light commercial vehicle registrations fell 3pc in April to 2,450 units, though they are up 14pc so far this year.<\/p>\n
Heavy goods vehicles dropped 21pc in April and are down nearly 10pc year to date.<\/p>\n
Used imports surged during the month rising 43.1pc to 7,510 vehicles. Imports are now up 40.1pc for the year so far, pointing to continued demand for lower-cost options as motorists manage higher running costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New figures from Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show 2,799 electric cars were registered during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60,38532],"class_list":["post-427553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-rory-mcginn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}