A quarter of all new private cars licensed this year were electric, figures show

Over a quarter of all new private cars licensed in the first seven months of 2026 were electric, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The number of electric cars licensed in July rose by 82% when compared with the same month last year; the number rose to 7,216 from 3,973. This now means that the share of electric vehicles among all new private cars from January to July 2026 was 26%, compared with just 17% in 2025 is a large rise.

The total number of new private cars licensed in July 2026 increased by 2% when compared with the same period last year. The number of used cars licensed for the first time grew by 28%, with the share of used electric vehicles from January to July being 11%, this is in comparison to 4% in the same period of 2025.

When it came to plug in hybrid vehicles specifically, their numbers decreased by 5% when compared with the same month last year.

In terms of petrol and diesel cars, the combined share of new private cars licensed was down from January to July 2026 in comparison with 2025, from 44% to 33%.

The most popular make of new private car was Toyota, while the most popular make of electric car continues to be Volkswagen ID.4.

Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show an 82% growth in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in July 2026 (7,216) when compared with the same month in 2025 (3,973). Licensing of hybrid vehicles decreased by 3% from 4,598 in July 2025 to 4,469 new private cars in July 2026.

The total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in July 2026 rose by 28% compared with July 2025 (8,508 vs 6,640). There were 1,564 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in July 2026, compared with 1,614 in the same period of 2025. Used (imported) private petrol car licences went up by 14% in July 2026 compared with July 2025 (3,200 vs 2,799).

In the first seven months of 2026, there was a 57% rise in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same period in 2025 (26,796 vs 17,075). We can also see that more than a quarter (26%) of all new private cars licensed between January and July 2026 were electric. Over the same seven-month period, there was a fall of 22% in the number of new petrol cars licensed (20,620 vs 26,454). Similarly, there was a 24% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed (12,687 vs 16,681).

The total number of new goods vehicles licensed for the first time in July 2026 was 3,428, up 16% on July 2025 (2,945). There were 22,905 new goods vehicles licensed from January to July 2026, which was an increase of 12% on the 20,364 licensed over the same period of 2025.”