Sales of electric vehicles in Mayo are on the rise
Mayo has seen a rise in electric vehicle car sales.
The number of new cars registered in Mayo has risen to over 2,000 this year.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) released their official new vehicle registrations statistics for October.
In Mayo, 2,033 new cars have been registered so far in 2023, an increase of 6.05% on last year, when 1,917 new cars were registered.
In October, 28 new cars were registered - a drop of 44% when compared to October 2022 when 50 new cars were registered.
There continues to be an increase in the use of electric cars in the county with an increase of 14.35% on last year rising from 216 to 247.
The most popular car make is a Toyota with 16.18% of the market, followed by Volkswagen (11%) and Hyundai (10.97%).
The sale of new electric vehicles nationwide slowed in October, with the SIMI figures showing that a total of 607 new electric vehicles were registered during the month, a decrease of 17.6% on the 737 registered the same month last year.
October marked the second month in a row of slowing EV sales. However SIMI added that a total of 22,280 new electric cars have been registered so far this year - an increase of 46.1% on the 15,247 registrations the same time in 2022.
Meanwhile, imported or used car registrations were up 23.6% to 4,124 in October on the same time last year.
Year to date imports are up 4.2% to 42,463 from 40,752 during the same time in 20220.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said that despite the fall in sales of electric vehicles in October, the underlying EV market remains positive. He added that a more accurate view of this can be seen in the 22,280 EV registrations year to date, an increase of 46% on 2022.
"Electric Vehicles now represent 18.5% of the new car market. 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. Sales of commercials both Light (LCV) and Heavy Good Vehicles (HGVs), while subdued in October remain ahead year to date," he added.
