More than a fifth of new cars licensed for the first time in the first five months of the year were electric or plug-in hybrid models. Photograph: GettyElectric and plug-in hybrid cars continued to gain in popularity in the first five months of 2022, new data from the Central Statistics Office showed, with diesel vehicles experiencing a steady decline.
In May a total of 1,095 new and used electric vehicles were licensed for the first time in the State; that compared with 691 in May 2021. Registrations of diesel vehicles fell to 3,422 in May from more than 6,250 a year earlier, while petrol cars were largely flat at 3,973 in 2022 and 4,098 in the prior year.
But the overall number of new cars licensed for the first time in May fell by 3 per cent year on year, while the number of private used cars declined by more than a third compared with May 2021, and more than 43 per cent in the first five months of the year. The number of imported diesel cars has dropped dramatically over the early part of 2022, falling from just over 20,000 in the same period in 2021 to 7,300 this year.