New figures from the Central Statistics Office today reveal a 52% increase in the number of electric cars licensed for the first time in October, with the number of EVs increasing to 1,144 from 751 the same time last year.
The CSO also reported growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 23% from 500 in October last year to 616 vehicles in October of this year.
The CSO noted that the share of EVs among new private cars from January to October was 19% compared with 14% during the same time last year.
Today's figures show that in the first 10 months of 2025, there was a rise of 39% in new private electric cars licensed compared with the same time in 2024 - rising to 22,613 from 16,211.
Meanwhile, 30,569 new petrol cars were licensed compared with 35,737 in the same period of 2024, a fall of 14%, while the number of new diesel cars licensed decreased by 23% to 20,066 from 26,176.
The CSO said the number of new private cars licensed in October rose by 3% to 4,096 compared with 3,994 in October last year.
The number of used, or imported, cars licensed increased by 26% to 6,898 from 5,454 over the same time.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in October at 562 vehicles, followed by Toyota (413), Skoda (405), Kia (310) and Hyundai (249).
Together, these five makes represented 47% of all new private cars licensed in October, the CSO said.
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in October was the Tesla Model Y (115), followed by the Tesla Model 3 (83) and the Volkswagen ID.4, today's figures also show.
