The sales of new electric car sales increased by almost 31 per cent in Galway in 2023 over the figure for the previous year.

That’s according to the end-of-year vehicle registrations statistics released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, which also revealed that petrol cars continue to be the most popular fuel-type sold throughout the country, accounting for 30 per cent of all sales.

The statistics show that there were 4,801 new cars sold across Galway city and county last year – up from 4,491 in 2022, representing a rise of 6.9 per cent.

That figure constituted just under four per cent of all cars sold in Ireland last year.

A total of 828 new EVs were sold throughout Galway city and county last year – that’s 195 more than the 633 sold here in 2022. Again, that’s just over four per cent of the number of EVs sold across the country.

Nationwide, new electric car registrations were up by over 45 percent – with almost 23,000 sold in 2023.

In terms of fuel type, petrol accounted for 30 per cent of car sales, and diesel 22 per cent – while electric, hybrid and plug-in hybrid accounted for the remaining sales.

The hatchback continues to be Ireland’s top selling car body type, while grey has retained the top selling colour title for the eighth year running.

“2023 was a year of progress for the Irish Motor Industry, both in terms of new vehicle registrations and electric vehicle sales,” said SIMI Director General Brian Cooke.

“New car registrations finished at 121,850 units, up 16% on last year and 4% ahead of pre-Covid 2019. The growth in electric vehicle sales continued into 2023, with an increase in market share from 15% in 2022 to nearly 19% in 2023.This represented a 45% increase in EV sales for the year.

“We expect to see growth in EV sales again in 2024, but key to this will be ongoing Government support, both in terms of vehicle and taxation incentives and investment in a fit-for-purpose charging infrastructure.

“Reducing the age of the national fleet, as well as moving to zero emission vehicles, will be vital if we want to get close to our climate goals,” he added.