Free parking for electric vehicles is to be stopped in Waterford due to the rise in EVs being bought.

Waterford City and County Council has said the incentive cannot continue because of the "significant increase in the number of EVs".

In a statement the council said the vehicles have been allowed to park free of charge in public pay-and-display areas in Waterford for several years.

However, the council said that following a review of parking charges and given the number of EVs on the roads, free parking will end.

The council said: "Following a review of our parking charges and given the significant increase in the numbers of EVs on the roads, the council cannot continue to sustain this incentive.

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"Accordingly public free parking for EVs within the council's pay-and-display car parks and streets will cease from February 1 this year."

The council will continue to operate free parking for EV and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) vehicles while they're charging at designated public charging points throughout Waterford city and county.

The local authority will also be facilitating an investment in 12 new fast EV charging points across the city and county throughout this year.

Despite a 12% decline in new car registrations last year, EVs have seen strong demand, according to the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Last year 15,591 new electric cars were registered, an increase of 83% on the number in 2021. Last November, 343 new electric vehicles were registered, compared to 190 in the same period the previous year.

According to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, at the end of October last year there were 'over 67,000' electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrids, on the roads in Ireland.

The Government has a target to have almost one million EVs on Irish roads by 2030, with 845,000 of these being private passenger cars. This includes battery EVs and plug-in hybrids but not petrol/diesel hybrids. This will be equivalent to one-third of the 2.8 million vehicles that are currently on the road in Ireland.