What's the news?
Irish consumers are increasingly making the shift towards electric vehicles (EVs), says a new report from the organisers of the International Car Tech and Mobility Summit, Electronomous and Mobility X.
In what is a quite staggering incremental rise, comparing figures for pure EVs sold in the first two months of 2019 shows six times as many units were sold this January and February (1,045) than were sold in the same period in 2018 (174 units). The year before, just 229 EVs were sold up to March 1.
Hybrids are also seeing an upswing, says the report, with a 20 per cent increase on 2018 - 3,760 hybrid vehicles were sold in the first two months of this year, compared to 3,122 last year. And 2018 itself was a big increase on 2017's comparable data of 1,976 hybrid units.
This is despite the fact that data from Cartell.ie shows that the price point for hybrid vehicles has risen in the first two months of 2019 (to just above €33,000, on average), compared with previous years, indicating a consumer preference for higher-specification vehicles in this sector of the market.
Meanwhile, diesel sales are down by 23 per cent, as customers flock from the traditionally (since 2008) strongest-selling fuel source in Ireland to electric and part-electric vehicles. So much so that the report predicts one in eight new cars sold in 2020 will be 'self-charging' hybrids, a growth of 12 per cent.
The organisers of Electronomous and MobilityX also said that growth in pure EVs was not out of the question. More than 3,000 units for the first two months of 2020 is 'easily achievable', while more than 5,000 units is 'not impossible'. There's also the battle between EVs and hybrids to come in the future, with (traditional or 'self-charging') hybrids currently making up 7.7 per cent of the car market compared to 2.2 per cent for EVs; that may shift more in favour of the latter in years to come.
Anything else?
Michael Gaynor, the marketing director for Toyota Ireland, said: "We continue to see consumers make the shift from diesel to self-charging hybrids where 80 per cent of all our car sales in 2019 will be hybrids. Our next generation hybrid engines can now deliver up to 60 per cent zero emissions driving, giving consumers much of the benefit of a pure electrified car without the compromise of re-recharging or range anxiety. It's why we expect self-charging hybrids to account for 12 per cent of private car sales in 2020, growing to 20 per cent by 2021."