Carzone.ie has revealed figures showing both the most-searched-for and most popular electric vehicles in Ireland so far this year.
Window shopping?
The Nissan Leaf was the most-searched-for electric car in the period from January to August 2021 with the Audi e-tron and Volkswagen ID.4 making up the rest of the top three.
Although the top ten most searched-for electric cars included more aspirational models like the Porsche Taycan and Tesla Model S, the list broadly contains many of the same cars that, it appears, people are actually buying.
Carzone lists the ten most searched-for cars as follows:
- Nissan Leaf
- Audi e-tron
- Volkswagen ID.4
- Tesla Model S
- Volkswagen ID.3
- Tesla Model 3
- Porsche Taycan
- Hyundai Ioniq
- Renault Zoe
- BMW i3
Out the showroom doors
The two best-selling electric cars in Ireland so far this year are both Volkswagens - the ID.4 and ID.3, respectively.
Oddly, the Kia e-Niro, the third best-selling EV in Ireland, the Hyundai Kona, Peugeot e-2008 and the MG ZS (seventh, eighth and tenth best-selling respectively), do not appear on the list of most-searched-for vehicles.
The top ten best-selling BEVs so far this year are:
- Volkswagen ID.4
- Volkswagen ID.3
- Kia e-Niro
- Nissan Leaf
- Tesla Model 3
- Renault Zoe
- Hyundai Kona
- Peugeot e-2008
- Hyundai Ioniq
- MG ZS
Broader context
According to recent figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), 7,057 pure-electric cars were sold in Ireland in the first eight months of the year, making up 7.33 per cent of the market
The best-selling car in Ireland so far this year has been the Hyundai Tucson with 5,135 units registered up to the end of August. Volkswagen sold 1,246 ID.4s, making it the country's 21st best-selling car.
The figures for EV registrations do show a massive increase since 2019 when just 3,444 were sold for the whole year.
According to a study by Carzone.ie last year, 55 per cent of people interviewed said that they plan to purchase an electric or hybrid vehicle as their next car. The research also found that 59 per cent of drivers aged 18-24 were more likely to buy an electric or hybrid car, compared with 50 per cent of motorists over 25.