According to new figures from Cartell.ie, one of Ireland’s leading vehicle history checking services, electric vehicle owners are keeping their cars for longer than those buying petrol or diesel models. Cartell.ie looked at all private cars registered between 2013 and 2019 to consider ownership changes. The company found that 65 per cent of EVs registered during that period are still on their first owner - this contrasts with a figure of 40 per cent for the private fleet as a whole for the same period.
Volkswagen leads the EV charge
Aside from that, Cartell.ie confirms that Volkswagen is currently sitting pretty at the top of the Irish electric vehicles (EV) market. Indeed, with its ID.3 and ID.4 models, VW has twice the number of EV registrations so far this year than anyone else, with 1,231 sales. Nissan is in second place with 603 sales; Kia in third with 412; Tesla in fourth with 379; and Renault in fifth with 346. The top ten is rounded out by Hyundai, Peugeot, Audi, MINI and MG.
In terms of individual models, the ID.4 is the best seller, followed by the ID.3, the Nissan Leaf, Kia e-Niro, Tesla Model 3, Hyundai Kona Electric, Renault Kangoo, Renault Zoe and Nissan ENV200.
With more than 4,000 EVs sold this year, the total so far registered in Ireland since 2016 stands at 15,228 and 2021 is predicted to be a bumper year for electric sales.
Jeff Aherne, Innovation Lead, Cartell.ie said: “While EVs are gaining traction in the market they are still growing from a relatively low base - so exponential growth is to be expected in the coming years. There is no doubt, with the manufacturer investment and Government incentives, vehicles of this type are going to continue to grow in the market and, ultimately, they will replace the fossil-fuel models. The rise of Volkswagen in this category is a story in itself - the buyer clearly likes the options it is providing.”