Significant rise in new private electric cars licensed in 2026, figures show

Almost one quarter of new private car licences in Ireland during the first six months of 2026 were electric, according to figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The number of these new private electric cars licensed in June rose by 26% when compared with the same month in 2025. Meaning the share of electric vehicles among new private cars from January to June to 2026 was 24% vs 17% last year.

The total number of new private cars licensed in June declined by 3% compared with June 2025, from 5,123 to 5,259.

Used cars licensed grew by 42% in June, when compared with the same month last year, from 5,448 to 7,714. There was also an 11% increase in the number of electric vehicles licensed in the same period.

The most popular make of new private car licensed in June was Volkswagen, while the Tesla Model 3 was the most popular electric car brand.

The CSO say that on a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed were down 9% in June 2026 compared with May, while the number of used private cars licensed rose by 3% over the same period.

Damien Lenihan, Statistician in the Transport Section of the CSO, said: “Today’s figures from the CSO show a 26% growth in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in June 2026 (1,539) when compared with the same month in 2025 (1,225). Licensing of hybrid vehicles increased by 24% from 764 in June 2025 to 944 new private cars in June 2026.

“The total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in June 2026 rose by 42% compared with the same period in 2025 (7,714 vs 5,448). There were 1,421 used (imported) diesel private cars licensed in June 2026, compared with 1,285 in the same period of 2025. Used (imported) private petrol cars licensed went up by 21% in June 2026 compared with June 2025 (2,856 vs 2,358).

“In the first six months of 2026, there was a 49% rise in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same period in 2025 (19,580 vs 13,102). We can also see that almost a quarter (24%) of all new private cars registered between January and June 2026 were electric. Over the same six-month period, there was a fall of 20% in the number of new petrol cars licensed (17,171 vs 21,424). Similarly, a 22% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed was seen over the same period (10,418 vs 13,439).

“The total number of new goods vehicles licensed for the first time in June 2026 was 2,330, up 11% on June 2025 (2,107). There were 19,477 new goods vehicles licensed from January to June 2026, which was an increase of 12% on the 17,419 licensed over the same period of 2025.”