Further slowdown in electric vehicle sales 'canary in the coal mine' moment
Battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hybrids now see their combined market share at 45.32%.
Electric car sales fell by almost 18% annually in October, stalling for the second month in a row, new figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) reveal.
Highlighting the decline, Geotab Vice President, Ireland and UK, David Savage warned that there is a real risk Ireland will not achieve its ambition of having 945,000 electric vehicles on the roads by 2030, adding that the Government needs to take stock and recognise this as a "canary in the coal mine moment."
"The reduction in EV grants is the sole cause of the drop in momentum," said Mr Savage. "Price is the deciding factor when making a car purchase and people are voting with their wallets as evidenced by the fall-off in demand for the second month in a row."
In total, new car registrations were down by almost 17% in October compared with the same month last year, however registrations to date this year up 15.6% on the same period in 2022.
Imported used cars jumped almost 24% annually last month, with imports this year to date up 4.2% on 2022.
In October, 607 new electric vehicles were registered compared to 737 in October 2022, reflecting a decline of almost 18%. However, so far this year, 22,280 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 15,247 (46.1%) on the same period 2022.
In October, the new car market share grew, with petrol retaining the largest share at 30.28%, diesel accounting for 22.15%, hybrid at 18.57%, electric at 18.49%, and plug-in electric hybrid accounting for 8.26%.
Battery EVs, plug-in hybrids and hybrids now see their combined market share at 45.32%.
Despite concerns of falling EV demand, SIMI said that despite two consecutive drops, the underlying EV market "remains positive," and a more accurate view of this can be seen in the 22,280 EV registrations year to date, an increase of 46% on 2022.
"EVs now represent 18.5% of the new car market," said SIMI Director General, Brian Cooke.
"Private consumer sales, with the support of SEAI grants, are the largest contributor of new electric vehicle registrations, accounting for nearly three quarters of EV sales."
"The clarity brought by last month’s Budget, with the extension of VRT and BIK reliefs, will support EV growth for next year in both the private and business sectors."
However, Mr Savage of Geotab said this year's Budget was a missed opportunity as it "fell short" on incentives to boost EV sales.
"There are plenty of measures in place in other markets that could have been adopted like a scrappage bonus for owners of older and higher polluting ICE vehicles, but the opportunity has passed and Government will need to review its strategy ahead of next year’s budget.
"With the level of Government funding for EV grants in Budget 2024 at a comparable level to the previous year, it is unlikely that purchase behaviour will change anytime soon," Mr Savage concluded.
