Ireland’s move towards electric motoring has taken another significant step, with battery electric vehicles now the most popular powertrain in the Irish new-car market. New figures released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that 35,195 new electric cars have been registered during the first nine months of 2026, an impressive 57.3% increase on the 22,376 registered during the same period last year. September proved particularly strong for electric cars, with 3,126 new BEVs registered during the month, representing an 80.2% increase on September 2025. Battery electric cars now account for 27.43% of the new-car market, putting them ahead of petrol-electric hybrids on 23.68%, petrol on 19.59%, plug-in hybrids on 14.93% and diesel, which has fallen to just 12.36%.
The wider Irish new-car market is also continuing to grow. A total of 6,342 new cars were registered during September, up 13.1% on the same month last year, while registrations for the year to date have reached 128,288, an increase of 5.4%. Light commercial vehicle registrations are up 7.4% for the year at 31,915, while HGV registrations are down slightly by 1% at 2,381. There has also been a substantial increase in used imports. Some 8,326 imported used cars were registered during September, up 18.9% year-on-year. More significantly, 72,140 used imports have arrived during the first nine months of 2026, representing a sizeable 34.4% increase compared with the same period in 2025.
Commenting on the figures, SIMI Director General Brian Cooke described 2026 as a “landmark year” for electric vehicle sales and called on Government to maintain existing BEV supports in the forthcoming Budget 2027. With electric cars now leading the Irish market and September registrations up more than 80%, the figures certainly demonstrate that the momentum behind Ireland’s transition to electric motoring is continuing to build.
The year-to-date sales charts also make for interesting reading, with Toyota remaining Ireland’s best-selling new-car brand in 2026, ahead of Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. The Toyota Yaris Cross continues to lead the individual model rankings, followed by the Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage and Skoda Kodiaq. In the rapidly growing electric market, Kia is currently the country’s best-selling EV brand, followed by Volkswagen, Hyundai, Tesla and Skoda, while the Volkswagen ID.4 leads the individual EV standings ahead of the Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Inster. Tesla enjoyed a particularly strong September, with the Model Y finishing the month as both Ireland’s best-selling new car overall and its best-selling electric car.
