Sales of petrol and diesel cars have fallen below pre-pandemic levels in 2019, while electric vehicles (EVs) continue to gain ground, new figures from the Central Statistics Office show.
The number of new EVs on the road is up by 40%, with last month seeing the highest ever number of electric car registrations.
The fall in petrol and diesel sales is not just down to more electric vehicles on the roads, but also a drop in commuter journeys as more people work from home, service station owners say. Unleaded petrol sales last year hit 931 million litres, which was 13% higher than in 2021 - which saw pandemic lockdowns for part of the year - but 11% lower than pre-pandemic in 2019.
And around 3.6 billion litres of diesel were pumped last year, an increase of 6% on 2021 but a fall of 2.5% on 2019.
Green Party transport spokesman Brian Leddin TD said that motorists should be choosing to go electric rather than adding EVs to the fleet we have.
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"The tendency now is for increased electric vehicle sales, and the figures appear to bear that out," he said. "What is important is that we see electric vehicles replacing sales of petrol and diesel vehicles and not simply adding to the overall sales."
The number of new EVs registered in January, the busiest month of the year for new car sales, surged by 40% to 2,531, an extra 718 on the same month last year. However, hybrids and plug-in hybrid car sales are both down. New hybrid registrations dropped from 4,850 in January last year to 3,719 last month, a fall of 23%. Plug-in hybrids are down 14%, from 1,507 to 1,291.
Petrol prices have fallen from their peak of €2 a litre last summer to around €1.63 now, while diesel is around €1.70 a litre. Excise duty was cut by 20c a litre for petrol and 15c a litre for diesel to ease the burden on motorists. The Government is currently considering an end to the cut and reinstating the duty - which would send prices back towards the €2 mark - but has not made a definite decision.
Irish Petrol Retailers Association chief Michael Griffin said: "Fuel sales still haven't recovered from the pandemic and I'd say electric cars are a factor and people working from home definitely is."
Society of the Irish Motor Industry director general Brian Cooke said: "We are still in the early stages of the electric vehicle project and the recent announcement of increased funding by the State for the national charging infrastructure will help allay range anxiety concerns.
"However, this increased investment must not be at the expense of purchase supports, which are essential in encouraging the behavioural change required to convince more consumers to go electric.
"The extension of grants, reduced tolling charges and VRT reliefs, as well as halting the reduction in the EV benefit-in-kind reliefs, should be on the agenda."
