The number of electric cars registered for the first time rose sharply in 2022, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office.
With a total of 15,462 new electric cars licenced for the first time in 2022—just over 15% of all new cars registered—electric car sales increased by 81% year over year.
Additionally, more consumers chose electric and gasoline hybrid vehicles, with nearly 20,000 new registrations in each category. Plug-in hybrids powered by diesel and electricity saw nearly 7,500 new registrations.
However, with 30,627 new petrol cars and 27,188 new diesel-powered private vehicles registered, petrol and diesel-powered vehicles remained dominant.
With new registrations of diesel cars falling more than 20% year over year and falling to 27% of the total, compared to 34% the year before, the latter category has however begun to show signs of waning popularity. More than 6% of petrol cars were registered over the past year.
With 101,349 new cars licenced in 2022 compared to 101,853 in 2021, there was a slight overall decline in the number of new cars. Chip shortages in particular have hampered the market, increasing lead times for vehicles and reducing supplies.
The used car market also tapered off last year, falling 32 percent compared to 2021, when 68,042 vehicles were licensed for the first time. Used imported diesel vehicles saw a marked decline, falling 55 percent year on year.
Last year, Toyota was the most popular brand of newly registered private vehicles, followed by Hyundai, Volkswagen, and Kia. According to data, the Toyota Yaris was the second most popular car model, behind the Hyundai Tucson.
According to Nele van der Wielen, a statistician in the CSO’s Transport Division, the Volkswagen ID. 4, Hyundai Ioniq, and Tesla Model 3 were the top three makes and models of new electric vehicles licenced in 2022.
On a monthly basis, the number of new cars licensed in December 2022 rose by 4 percent, or an additional 34 cars, year on year.