There were 3,089 new private electric cars licensed in April – an increase of 1,306 on a year ago, official figures show.

The electric sales boom was a "positive performance across all counties" and is driven by private sales rather than company cars, said Brian Cooke, head of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry.

"Year-to-date Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) sales have reached 16,779 units, a 49% increase on the same period last year,’ he said. ‘The strong performance in BEV sales is driven by private consumers, who account for 77% of sales, with this sector of the market being supported by strong Government incentives."

However, the new electric car market share of 22% is still below the level required to meet national climate targets, he warned.

"The momentum behind the EV project is there, and we must build on this. Now is not the time to reduce supports," he said.

"Government must maintain and extend incentives for consumers and businesses while investing in infrastructure, along with a range of targeted measures to encourage widespread EV adoption before 2030."

But as fully electric car sales zoom ahead, hybrid cars – petrol engines with electric motors – are down, with 2,796 registered last month, down 14% from 3,233 in April last year, CSO figures released yesterday show.

Although down in April, hybrids have been the most popular cars since the start of the year, selling 18,327 in January, February, March, and April, when electric-only cars sold 15,031 in these months.

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CSO transport statistician Damien Lenihan said: "These figures show a 73% increase in the number of new private electric cars licensed for the first time in April (3,089), when compared with the same month in 2025 (1,783)."

Over the first four months of the year, new privately owned electric cars were up more than 4,500 to 15,031, an increase of 43% on last year.

The most popular new electric cars licensed in April were the Toyota C-HR, with 214 sales, followed by the Skoda Enyaq, with 165, and the Volkswagen ID.4, with 130.

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There was a 23% drop in the number of new petrol cars licensed – from 17,446 to 13,469. Diesel cars licensed dropped 24%, from 10,917 to 8,295.

Spending on EV charging was also up 72% in the year to April, according to AIB’s card spending figures.

* This article was originally published on Extra.ie.