DUBLIN, April 8 (Xinhua) -- In the first quarter (Q1) of 2022, 8,823 electric vehicles (EVs) were sold in Ireland, 91.55 percent more than in the same period of last year, the country's Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Friday.
Of all the EVs sold in Q1, 5,388 were electric-only, up almost 133 percent year-on-year, and 3,435 were plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), up nearly 50 percent year-on-year.
Slightly over 21 percent of all new cars sold in Q1 were EVs. In the same period of 2021, the respective figure was 11.7 percent.
The number of new cars sold in Ireland in Q1 2022 was 41,329, five percent more than in Q1 2021. The Q1 2022 growth was mainly driven by EVs and hybrid vehicles.
A total of 10,405 hybrid vehicles were sold in Q1, up 29 percent year-on-year, while the sales of petrol and diesel cars dropped by 11 percent and close to 26 percent, respectively.
In Q1 2022, 10,981 petrol cars and 10,609 diesel cars were sold in Ireland.
The increase in the number of EVs and hybrid vehicles and the decline in the number of petrol and diesel cars reflect an ongoing and profound change in the Irish auto market.
In December 2021, the Irish government said that it would increase the number of EVs in the country to 945,000 by 2030 as part of its climate action.
Currently, there are an estimated 45,000 EVs on the Irish roads, according to the latest official figures.
Last month, Ireland's Department of Transport published the country's first national EV charging infrastructure strategy, which foresees the establishment of a public EV charging network capable of supporting 194,000 electric cars and vans by 2025.
The Irish government also plans to ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2030 and the use of such cars by 2045. ■