Electric Car sales surged dramatically last month as the war in the Middle East drove the price of petrol and diesel ever higher. EV sales figures are more than 50% higher than in 2025, and have overtaken petrol engines in new car market share.
The growth in electric car sales occurred despite a slowdown in overall new car registrations. Alongside the growth in full Battery Electric Vehicles, registrations of Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid cars have also continued to increase.
New Electric Car Registrations Up 52%
In March this year, there were 3,851 new electric cars registered, an increase of 52.1% compared to the same month in 2025.
So far this year, 14,004 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 40.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, when 9,964 electric cars were registered.
Hybrid Cars have the highest market share for new cars (27.36%), followed by Battery Electric (21.56%), Petrol (21.24%), Plug-in Hybrid (14.41%), and Diesel (12.92%).
For the first time, fully electric cars have overtaken petrol in their market share of new car sales.
Electric Car Growth Stands Out Amidst Slump
The growth in sales of electric cars stands out all the more when looking at the overall slump in new car registrations.
New car registrations for March were down 10.4% (15,485) compared to March 2025 (17,291).
Registrations year to date are only up 0.28% (64,967) on the same period last year (64,784).
Brian Cooke, Director General of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, said, “Following a strong start to new car sales in the first two months of the year, March new car registrations indicate a softening in demand, with a decline of 10% when compared to the same month last year.”
“New car sales for the first quarter of the year are now marginally ahead of Q1 in 2025, with a total of 64,967 new cars registered.”
“Despite the slowdown in March, new battery electric car registrations continue to grow, with 3,851 units registered. Year-to-date BEV registrations reached 14,004 units, which is a 40.5% increase on the same period last year.”
“A better guide perhaps, is that the BEV market share stands at 21.5%, compared to 18.9% for the full year 2025. The strong growth in EV registrations has been reflected across all counties.”
“In addition, new car registrations in Q1 have seen continued growth for Hybrid electric (HEV) and Plug-in hybrid electric (PHEV), while traditional Petrol and Diesel cars continue to see a decline, with their combined market share now just 34% of the new car market.”
EV Growth Seen in All Counties
The year on year increase in EV sales in March was seen in all counties according to SIMI data, with nowhere seeing a decline in new EV registrations.
Roscommon saw the largest growth compared with last year at 144.44%, followed by Cavan (107.02%), Kilkenny (96.06%), and Clare (89.38%).
