New figures from the Central Statistics Office show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland.
Today's CSO figures show that the number of new electric cars licensed has increased by 52% from 13,506 in January to September of 2022 to 20,517 in the same time of 2023.
The CSO noted that 19% of all new cars licensed for the first time during the first nine months of the year were electric compared with 14% during the same time in 2022.
During the months from January to September this year, 36,407 new cars licensed were petrol cars compared with 27,915 in the same time in 2022, an increase of 30%.
But new diesel cars licensed have decreased by 4% in the same time.
The CSO said the number of new cars licensed in September of this year slowed down by 9% compared with the same month last year - falling to 6,882 from 7,315.
Meanwhile, the number of used cars licensed in the first nine months of 2023 increased by 4% compared with the same period in 2022 - 37,591 compared to 36,140.
Today's figures also show Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in September, followed by Skoda, Toyota, Kia and Hyundai.
Together, these five makes represent 49% of all new private cars licensed in September.
