New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that in the first four months of this year, 13% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 17% the same time last year.
Today's CSO figures also reveal that the number of new cars licensed in April increased by 10% to 12,409 compared to 11,277 in April 2023.
The CSO said that new petrol and electric cars were the most popular car licensed in the first four months of 2024, accounting for 21% of all new cars licensed.
In terms of car numbers, the number of petrol and electric vehicles licensed rose from 8,367 in the first four months of 2023 to 13,270 in the first four months of 2024.
At the same time, new diesel cars licensed increased by 17% in the same period and accounted for 24% of all new private cars licensed.
Meanwhile, the number of used cars licensed in the first four months of this year rose by 27% compared with the same period in 2023 (20,273 from 16,022).
On a monthly basis, the number of used cars licensed in April increased by 30% to 5,399 from 4,145 in April of last year.
Today's CSO figures show that Skoda was the most popular make of new private car licensed in April, followed by Toyota, Volkswagen, Hyundai and Kia.
Together, these five makes represent half of all new private cars licensed in April 2024.
Meanwhile, the most popular brand of new electric car licensed in April 2024 was the Volkswagen ID.3, followed by the Volkswagen ID.4 and the BYD Seal.
