New figures from the Central Statistics Office show a 9% fall in the number of new private electric cars licensed for the first time in November when compared with the same month in 2024.
But the CSO recorded growth in the licensing of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) which were up 19% in November compared to the same time last year.
In the first 11 months of 2025, the CSO noted a rise of 38% in new private EVs licensed when compared with the same time in 2024, with the numbers rising to 23,134 from 16,786.
There were 31,031 new petrol cars licensed in the 11 month period, compared with 36,208 during the same time of 2024, a fall of 14%.
The number of new diesel cars licensed also slowed by 23%, with the numbers falling to 20,402 from 26,562.
Today's figures show that the number of new private cars licensed in November fell by 6% to 1,901 from 2,024 the same month last year.
But the number of used private cars licensed in November rose by 25% to 6,413 from 5,124 the same time last year.
Today's figures show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in November at 255 vehicles, followed by Škoda (186), Toyota (141), Kia (138) and Tesla (119).
Together, these five makes represented 44% of all new private cars licensed in November.
Meanwhile, the most popular brand of new electric car licensed in November was the Tesla Model Y (75), followed by the Tesla Model 3 (44), and the Ford Explorer (36).
