Reset Moment Required For Irish EV Sales In Budget 2025

Commenting on SIMI’s July sales data, Geotab Vice President, EMEA, David Savage said: “July is now the fifth month in a row where EV sales in Ireland have fallen, highlighting the need to reset Ireland’s EV strategy in Budget 2025 later this year in the hopes of having any chance of meeting the Government’s target of having 945,000 zero-emission vehicles on the roads by 2030.

“July is traditionally a bumper month for car sales in Ireland, but drivers are clearing voting with their wallets by opting for petrol and diesel vehicles instead, with EV sales lagging behind.  We have to take a step back and look at the international picture, where EV sales are continuing to rise in countries like the UK and ask ourselves why Ireland can’t deliver similar growth. For example, 133,000 new electric cars were registered in the UK over the course of the first five months of 2024, representing a year-on-year increase of almost 10 per cent.

“We need to go beyond a simple restoration of EV grants to their previous levels and explore targeted incentives such as the introduction of a scrappage fee for high polluting petrol and diesel vehicles and bringing in free tolls for electric taxis and light commercial vehicles.”

With Ireland on course to miss its goal of having 945,000 EVs on Irish roads by 2030, with the Department of Transport’s own projections estimating that there will be only 416,000 EVs on Irish roads at that stage, Geotab has highlighted a range of incentives which the Government could consider to bolster sales of zero emission vehicles.

Geotab believes that considerations could include the introduction of a conversion bonus for older high-emitting vehicles, when that vehicle is being traded in for a new EV. A similar scheme is already in place in Spain, where individuals purchasing a zero-emissions vehicle can obtain a bonus if an ICE vehicle is being scrapped.

According to SIMI, there are over one million vehicles (46.4% of the national car fleet) that are Euro 4 or older (pre-2012) on Irish roads, which represents a significant amount of high emitting vehicles. A targeted intervention that specifically looks to reduce the number of older ICE vehicles on Irish roads would be worthwhile as even with the original level of EV subsidies that were available, many motorists are clearly unable to transition due to the high costs involved with acquiring an EV.

Geotab has also highlighted the option of amending the Low Emissions Vehicle Toll Incentive, whereby specific categories of zero-emissions vehicles – Light Goods Vehicles and Small Passenger Public Services Vehicles – could avail of free tolls on all toll roads. This would further the business case for specific audiences such as tradespeople.

While there is some momentum behind passenger car EV adoption, industry statistics clearly highlight a lack of take-up by the business community. For example, sales of light commercial electric vehicles only account for less than 3% of total sales for that segment year-to-date. It is obvious that a series of targeted interventions are required in order to stimulate adoption, particularly for the light goods vehicles and small passenger public services vehicles where equivalent EV models are available.