Two out of every five new cars sold today are electric, plug-in or hybrid cars

More than two out of five new cars (41 units) registered last year were electric, hybrid or plug-in hybrid vehicles, new figures show.

They reflect how car buyers are increasingly moving towards a kind of “electrification”.

According to Society of the Irish Motor statistics, 15,678 new “pure” battery electric vehicles (BEVs) were registered, compared to 8,646 in the corresponding period in 2021 (+81.3 percent) and 3,444 in 2019 (+355.2 percent) . Industry (SIMI).

However, many buyers are hedging their bets on BEVs and buying hybrids — powered by a combination of battery and gasoline engines — as a transition to an all-electric vehicle the next time they buy.

Hybrids powered by a battery and a petrol engine accounted for 19.29 percent of total sales, with “pure” electric cars accounting for 14.9 percent and plug-ins (petrol engine and larger battery that can be charged at home) for 6.76 percent .

Gasoline was the most popular engine type for 2022, despite a drop in its market share (30.16 percent of registrations) with diesel to 26.77 percent, according to the latest SIMI statistics.

The total number of new registrations for 2022 was 105,253, or 0.3 per cent – a meager increase compared to 2021.

SIMI’s general manager Brian Cooke said sales have been hurt by constraints such as the lack of microchips needed for a variety of functions in new cars. However, looking at 231 new registrations, he said retailers are reporting “strong new car orders”.

And the industry is once again anticipating further growth in sales of electric vehicles.

Mr Cooke said the magnitude of that growth will be determined not only by supply but also by government support for electric vehicles, by extending current grants and supporting investment in the national charging infrastructure.

“The combination of government support and industry investment is essential if we are to create an active market for used electric vehicles in the shortest possible time,” he said.

The five best-selling brands last year were, in order, Toyota, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia and Skoda.

The top individual models were Hyundai Tucson, Toyota Corolla, Kia Sportage, Toyota C-HR and Volkswagen ID.4.

The best-selling electric vehicles were the Volkswagen ID.4, the Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Tesla Model 3, the Kia EV6 and the Volkswagen ID.3.

The hatchback remains our best-selling body style and gray is the most popular color for the seventh year running.

And automatic transmissions are now more popular than manual transmissions, accounting for (56.99 percent) of the market share. Manual transfers have dropped to 42.95 percent.