The massive jump in electric car sales so far this year continued last month, with EV sales in February up 36% compared with the same period last year.

Last month, there were 2,524 new electric cars registered in the country, up 36% compared with February 2024, according to figures from the Irish Society of the Motor Industry (SIMI).

The strong performance of electric cars stands out against a sluggish month for new car sales overall, with the total figure for February down 15% compared with 2024.

Fully electric vehicles accounted for 15.68% of the new car market last month, along with 14.3% for Plug-in Hybrid cars, and 23.76% for Hybrid (petrol electric) cars.

Between the three varieties, fully or partially electric cars captured just over 53% of the market share of new cars registered in Ireland in February.

Brian Cooke, Director of SIMI, highlighted that two thirds of new electric cars sales in the country last month benefited from an SEAI grant, emphasising the importance of this support to continue the expansion of the sector.

“The importance of Government supports is key to maintaining this momentum, particularly with a greater range of EVs coming on stream.”

Only three counties didn’t see any year-on-year growth in electric car sales so far this year, with Longford (-21.74%) and Leitrim (-5.88%) both seeing sales decline compared with 2024.

Sales figures were also flat in Roscommon, with 30 new electric cars registered in thew first two months of the year both in 2025 and last year.

Tipperary (+95.18%) has seen the greatest year on year growth in electric car sales so far in 2025, with 162 EV sales in Jan – Feb compared to 83 last year. 

This is followed by Offaly (+94.44%) with 70 electric cars sold so far this year, Monaghan (+80%) with 45, Carlow (+77.78%) with 80, and Kerry (+77.33%) with 133 electric cars sold.

The counties with the highest sales by volume this year are Dublin with 3,418 electric cars registered, Cork with 711, Kildare with 476, and Meath with 320 electric car sales in Jan – Feb.

Of those, Kildare has experienced the greatest growth in EV sales so far this year, with figures up nearly 40% compared with 2024.

The best-selling electric car last month was the Tesla Model 3, despite Elon Musk’s everything, supplanting the Volkswagen ID.4  which was the most popular in January.

Petrol still holds the crown in car sales for the year to date with 27.88% of market share, followed by Hybrid (Petrol Electric) 23.76%, Diesel 16.65%, Electric 15.68%, and Plug-In Electric Hybrid 14.30%.