Sales of new electric cars in Laois remained stagnant in the first three months of this, according to the latest report from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI). 

There were 95 new electric cars registered in Laois between January and March 2024 which marked no change in comparison to the same period in 2023. 

This week SIMI released their official 241 new vehicle registrations statistics for March. It showed that despite there being no growth in new electric car sales, across the board new car registrations in the county grew by 15%.

There were 790 new car registrations in Laois between January and March 2024 compared to 689 over the same three month period in 2023.

Nationally sales of new electric cars are down 14.2% in the first three months compared to last year, despite the overall new car market growing by 8%.

Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said: “While the new car market started strongly in the first two months of the year, March proved to be much more difficult. New car sales showed a 16% decrease on the same month last year, although sales for the first quarter remain 8% ahead of 2023. 

“Sales of light and heavy commercial vehicles both show growth in registrations for March. Sales across all fuel types were behind last year, with the Electric Vehicle segment seeing a notable decline. This highlights the ongoing challenge of transitioning to electrification, as we move into the mainstream car market.

“The electrification of the fleet requires increased collaboration between all stakeholders to bridge this current chasm in the market. For the Industry, this means investment and delivery of EV technology. For Government, this means increased support in terms of extension of current incentives, including purchase grants and Benefit-In -Kind (BIK) relief for companies, and working with private enterprise to upgrade the national charging infrastructure, to boost consumer confidence in making the switch to electric vehicles.”