The number of electric vehicles (EVs) registered in the State climbed by almost two-thirds in the first eight months of the year compared with last year, new Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures reveal, while new and used diesel car registrations fell.

Some 19,201, or 19 per cent, of all new cars licensed between January and August were EVs, up from 13 per cent last year, the CSO said on Monday.

The jump in sales in the first half of the year may be due to motorists wanting to avail of the full SEAI grant of €5,000, which the Government reduced from July 1st.

Overall, 2,386 new vehicles of all fuel types were registered in August alone, a 27 per cent increase on the same month in 2022, bringing to 102,600 the total number of new cars licensed this year, an increase of 19 per cent year-on-year.

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Of the total, just 22 per cent were diesel cars, compared with 27 per cent in the first eight months of 2022.

Meanwhile, imports of used cars – which had been depressed by Covid-related trade disruption and the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union single market – continued to show some signs of improvement. The number of used cars registered in the Republic increased by 5 per cent to 33,359 between January and August as imports recovered.

Of the total, some 10,739 were diesel cars, a decline of 6 per cent from the first eight months of 2022.

DoneDeal noted in July that imports of second-hand vehicles increased slightly between April and the end of June, boosting supply.

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The proportion of imported vehicles coming from the UK declined to a new low of 28 per cent in the three-month period “in stark contrast” to the first quarter of 2020, however, when the share of all imported used cars coming from the UK was 93.6 per cent.

Car imports from the UK have been declining steadily since Brexit.

The data also indicates that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in August 2023, followed by Hyundai, Toyota, Skoda and Kia.