In the first ten months of 2023, 19 per cent of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric, compared with 15 per cent in the same period in 2022. Photograph: Alan Betson
There were 21,667 new electric cars licensed in the ten months from January to October 2023, a 47 per cent increase on the 14,707 licensed over the same period last year. A report published by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland on Thursday noted that the value of car loans jumped by almost 50 per cent in the second quarter of this year, partly due to an increasing consumer appetite for electric vehicles.
Figures from the CSO show that a total of 4,581 new private cars were licensed for the first time in October, up 1 per cent on October 2022 figures. In the ten months from January to October 2023, there were 114,069 new private cars licensed, up 16 per cent on the same period last year.