New figures from the Central Statistics Office show a 73% increase in the number of new private electric cars (EVs) licensed for the first time in April, with the numbers jumping to 3,089 from 1,783 the same time last year.
This means the share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new private cars from January to April 2026 was 23% compared with 16% in the same time of 2025.
The CSO noted a decrease in the licensing of hybrid vehicles which were down 14% from 3,233 in April last year to 2,796 new private cars in April this year.
Today's figures show that the total number of new private cars licensed in April fell by 8% compared with April 2025, falling to 11,930 from 13,033.
But the total number of used (imported) private cars licensed in April 2026 rose by 40% compared with the same period in 2025, rising to 7,732 from 5,537.
The combined share of petrol and diesel cars among new private cars licensed from January to April was down in comparison with 2025 - 34% compared to 44%.
The CSO reported a 43% rise in new private EVs licensed in the first four months of the year compared with the same time last year - 15,031 compared to 10,495.
The same four-month period showed a fall of 23% in the number of new petrol cars licensed (17,446 compared to 13,469), while there was also a 24% decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed was seen over the same time (10,917 compared to 8,295).
Today's figures shows that Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in April at 1,545 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (1,408), Skoda (1,330), Kia (928), and Hyundai (859). Together, these five makes represented 51% of all new private cars licensed in April.
The most popular brand of new electric car licensed last month was the Toyota C-HR (214), followed by the Skoda Enyaq (165) and the Volkswagen ID.4 (130)
