New data from the Central Statistics Office shows a 9% drop in the number of newly licensed private electric cars in November compared with the same month in 2024.
However, the CSO reported a 19% increase in licences for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) during November year-on-year.
Across the first 11 months of 2025, new private EV licences rose by 38% compared with the same period in 2024, climbing from 16,786 to 23,134.
Petrol car registrations continued to decline, with 31,031 new petrol cars licensed between January and November—down 14% from 36,208 in the same period last year.
New diesel licences also fell sharply, dropping 23% to 20,402 from 26,562.
Overall, the number of new private cars licensed in November decreased by 6%, falling to 1,901 from 2,024 a year earlier.
In contrast, used private car licences rose by 25% in November, reaching 6,413 compared with 5,124 in the same month last year.
The figures also show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in November, with 255 vehicles. It was followed by Škoda (186), Toyota (141), Kia (138), and Tesla (119). Together, these five brands accounted for 44% of all new private car licences that month.
Among new electric cars, the Tesla Model Y was the top choice in November with 75 registrations, followed by the Tesla Model 3 (44) and the Ford Explorer (36).