Used electric cars are now priced around 11% below comparable diesel vehicles, according to a new report from DoneDeal Cars.
The figure is based on a sample of used cars less than five years old for sale on the dealer-listed online car marketplace.
It compared the difference in price between electric vehicles (EVs) and other fuel types on a like-for-like basis, taking factors such as age, mileage and model into account.
The analysis also found that a typical three-year-old electric car now has a median asking price of €28,825, compared with €35,893 for a diesel vehicle of the same age.
DoneDeal Cars Price Index said petrol cars remain the cheapest option upfront, with a typical three-year-old model priced at around €22,900.
It said the gap between petrol and electric vehicles has "narrowed significantly" in recent years.
The report concluded that a sharp decline in used electric vehicle prices "appears to have stabilised", following what it described as "a turbulent period triggered by falling new-car prices, reduced purchase grants and increased supply of electric vehicles entering the second-hand market".
Economist and analyst of the DoneDeal Cars Price Index, Dr Tom Gillespie, said the data "suggests the market has found a more sustainable level".
"EV prices are stabilising, supply is improving, and price movements are becoming more predictable again after several volatile years."
Head of Automotive Content and Communications at DoneDeal, Paddy Comyn, said prices "surged during the supply shortages of the pandemic years, then corrected sharply as supply improved and manufacturers cut new-car prices".
"What we're seeing now is the market settling into a more normal pattern."
He said electric cars are "no longer carrying a premium over diesel".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Comyn compared estimated yearly costs of an average motorist driving about 17,000 kilometres per year, pointing to the concerns over the rising costs of oil amid the ongoing US-Iran war.
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"All things being equal, you're going to pay about €780 per year to charge that car. And if you're driving a petrol car, that's going to be about €2,200 and a diesel about €2,000."
Amid existing concerns over the battery longevity in EVs, the DoneDeal expert noted that automakers are now beginning to offer extended warranties on batteries, with some covering 160,000 km or roughly seven-eight years in some cases.
There are "ongoing pressures" in the lower end of the used car market, according to the analysis.
It said the cost of vehicles priced below €6,000 rose by 7.6% year-on-year, "reflecting continued shortages of cheaper cars".
The report also shows Ireland’s used car supply chain has been reshaped post-Brexit.
It said imports from the UK have "fallen sharply" since 2019, while Japan now accounts for roughly half of all used car imports into Ireland.
DoneDeal said many of those imports from Japan were European brands originally sold in the Japanese market before being re-exported.
