Electric Vehicle sales see massive decline in 2024: 'A year to forget for Irish EV sales'
Despite Government efforts to deter people from buying petrol and diesel cars, electric vehicles accounted for 53% of the market share in 2024
Electric vehicle registrations saw a decrease of 24% in 2024 compared to the year before, according to The Society of the Irish Motor Industry’s new vehicle registration statistics.
Despite Government efforts to deter people from buying petrol and diesel cars, they accounted for 53% of the market share in 2024. Some 30% of all cars in the market were petrol, 23% diesel, 21% hybrid, 21% electric and 10% plug-in hybrid.
The most EV's were bought in Dublin, with 48% of all newly-registered vehicles being registered in the capital. Cork was the second-highest, with 10% of all EV's last year being registered in the Rebel County.
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Tesla was the most popular electric car bought last year, followed by Volkswagen and Kia. Geotab’s Business Development Manager Phil Barnes said 2024 was “a year to forget” for the Irish EV industry.
In summer 2023, the maximum government grant available for purchasing a battery-powered electric vehicle was decreased from €5,000 to €3,500.
The grant only applies to new cars with a full price between €14,000 and €60,000. A previous grant of €2,500 for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is no longer available.
Mr Barnes said this has undoubtedly contributed to fewer people opting to buy a greener car in 2024. He added: “It is clear that the decision to reduce subsidies deflated the public’s appetite, so a new targeted intervention aimed at potential buyers who are being held back financially from making the switch to a zero-emissions vehicle would be welcomed.
“The automotive industry is on a one-way street to zero-emission mobility, so the reality is that Ireland needs to decide whether we will be in the fast or slow lane in terms of adoption. With significant goals to be achieved in our bid to reduce transport emissions, the EV transition is the easiest way to hit these targets if Ireland is to avoid fines due to a failure in reducing carbon emissions.”
There were a total of 121,195 new car registrations for 2024, which is a slight decrease of 1% compared to 2023. Imported used cars saw a significant increase last year, with 21% more registrations compared to the year before.
The most popular car of 2024 was the Hyundai Tucson followed by Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage, Toyota Rav and Toyota Yaris Cross.
Manual transmission continues to decline as automatic transmission now accounts for 66% of the market share. There has also been an increase in commercial vehicle registrations. New Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) registrations saw an increase of 7% compared to the year before while new Heavy Commercial Vehicle registrations (HGV) increased by 8%.
The hatchback continues to remain Ireland’s top-selling car body type of 2024 while grey has retained the top-selling colour title for the ninth year running. SIMI General Director Brian Cooke said the key feature of the 2024 new car market report was the decline in EV sales.
He added: “There has however been some tentative signs of a turnaround in EV sales towards the end of 2024, and the Industry is anticipating an increase in EV sales in 2025. The start of the new registration period, 251, this week, is an optimistic time for the Irish Motor Industry.
"With the variety of incentives and offers from retailers and manufacturers it is a good time for customers to shop for a new or used car.”
The automotive industry isn’t completely deterred by a decline in EV sales. November and December saw higher sales compared to the previous months, and Mr Barnes said there are “green shoots of recovery” amidst the data.
He added: “If we look at hybrid and battery electric vehicles, over 4 in 10 new car sales are now EVs. There are more makes and models than ever before, with cheaper price points that make the potential of buying a zero-emissions vehicle more realistic for many households. There is positive momentum in the rollout of public charging infrastructure, with more chargers than ever before, giving people one less reason to be worried about when making the switch.
“Our hope now is that we can put 2024’s EV sales in the rearview mirror and get back onto a positive trajectory in 2025. So all eyes will be on the January figures next month, where we hope to see a rebound in sales with more people putting a 251 reg onto an EV than ever before.”
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