Written answers
Wednesday, 22 March 2023
Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport
Electric Vehicles
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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65. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the total number of electric vehicles in Ireland to date in 2023; the number of electric vehicles registered annually over the past ten years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14064/23]
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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4215 Battery Electric and Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles have been confirmed as registered during 2023 to date. This is based on January alone, figures for February are pending from the CSO.
The individual annual figures for all of the last 10 years are not available to me immediately, however the breakdown of EVs registered for the first time as confirmed by the CSO for years 2018-2023 is detailed below:
| Year | Total | Cumulative Total |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 3,994 | 3994 |
| 2019 | 8,151 | 12,145 |
| 2020 | 11,041 | 23,186 |
| 2021 | 22,685 | 45,871 |
| 2022 | 27,595 | 73,466 |
| 2023 (Jan) | 4215 | 77,681 |
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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66. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of cars and percentage of the national vehicle fleet powered by fossil fuels in 2022 and to date in 2023; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14065/23]
Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The details requested by the Deputy are provided in the table below. The data reflect the number of passenger cars with a current motor tax at 31 December 2022 and 28 February 2023 (most recent data for 2023) and are powered by a fossil fuel. Vehicles such as hybrid are included in the data below as they have the option to use fossil fuel. The data below are extracted based on vehicles designed and constructed for the carriage of passengers, with no more than eight seats in addition to the driver.
| Passenger Vehicles Only | 31st December 2022 | % of Total Overall Passenger Number | 28th February 2023 | % of Total Overall Passenger Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DIESEL | 1,240,800 | 42.51 | 1,245,147 | 42.29 |
| PETROL | 817,819 | 28.02 | 824,816 | 28.01 |
| PETROL/ELECTRIC | 107,130 | 3.67 | 111,600 | 3.79 |
| PETROL/PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC | 31,891 | 1.09 | 34,228 | 1.16 |
| ETHANOL/PETROL | 6,896 | 0.24 | 6,890 | 0.23 |
| DIESEL/ELECTRIC | 4,697 | 0.16 | 5,419 | 0.18 |
| DIESEL/PLUG-IN HYBRID ELECTRIC | 1,429 | 0.05 | 1,498 | 0.05 |
| PETROL & GAS | 844 | 0.03 | 823 | 0.03 |
| OTHERS | 155 | 0.01 | 160 | 0.01 |
| Total number of passenger vehicles powered by a fossil fuel | 2,211,661 | 98.38 | 2,230,581 | 98.22 |
| Total overall number of passenger vehicles with a current motor tax | 2,248,157 | 2,271,039 |
The table below provides data on the overall number of vehicles for the same periods with a current motor tax, powered by fossil fuels and percentage.
| All Vehicles | 31st December 2022 | % of Total Number | 28th February 2023 | % of Total Number |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total number of vehicles powered by a fossil fuel | 2,879,725 | 98.65 | 2,900,891 | 98.53 |
| Total overall number of vehicles with a current motor tax | 2,919,005 | 2,944,263 |
Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)
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67. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the current status of the €5,000 grant scheme available for the purchase of new battery electric vehicles; if he is considering extending the scheme beyond this summer; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14070/23]
Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party)
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Ireland now has a buoyant demand for electric vehicles; 2022 saw an 81% increase in registration of EVs compared to the previous year (CSO). As of end December 2022, there were 73,574 electric vehicles on Irish roads. This year we are also seeing the arrival of newer EV models on the Irish market that are lower in cost.
The Government's investment strategy for electric vehicles will therefore begin a rebalance towards supporting EV charging infrastructure starting this year. This change aligns with similar polices in other European nations, where countries including Norway, Germany and France have begun to curb their vehicle subsidies and refocus their investments in this sector towards provision of charging infrastructure.
As such, it is now appropriate to amend the current Electric Vehicle Grant scheme. The current maximum grant of €5,000 will remain in place for applications until June 30 2023, with a new maximum limit of €3,500 applying from the 1st of July.
It is important to emphasise that Government support for the transition to EVs remains a key action in meeting our climate targets.
Many elements of the existing electric vehicle grant system remain unchanged. Vehicle incentives for businesses will stay the same and the SEAI will continue to administer the commercially bought EVs and large panel vans grants at current levels.
The small public service vehicles (SPSV) grant for taxi and hackney drivers administered by the NTA was renewed in February, while the Alternatively Fuelled Heavy Duty Vehicle Purchase Grant Scheme, managed by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, has also remained unchanged.
In addition, there is no change to the existing generous VRT relief which is available to a maximum of €5,000 to purchasers of electric vehicles up to the selling price of €40,000, with a reduced scale for vehicles up to the selling price of €50,000.
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