Vehicle History and data expert Cartell.ie and Car sales platform CarsIreland.ie have announced the results of an analysis on Electric Vehicle sales in the Irish market with the headline being the strong performance of Volkswagen.

With a relatively late arrival to the EV scene, Volkswagen has had a phenomenal start to its electrification goals. Cartell.ie looked at the numbers of EVs sold by manufacturer in the year to the end of May 2021 and the results show Volkswagen has outsold its rivals, with 1231 units, more than doubling the number of the incumbent Nissan on 804.

The top selling EV models are also Volkswagen with the ID3 and ID4 making a huge impression with buyers and topping the model table ahead of the Nissan Leaf and Kia Niro.

Cartell.ie also report that compared with their petrol and diesel counterparts, owners of EVs tend to hold onto their vehicle longer. Cartell looked at all private cars registered between 2013 and 2019 to consider ownership changes. The company found that 65% of EVs registered during that period are still on their first owner, this contrasts with a figure of 40% for the private fleet as a whole for the same period.

The overall number of EVs sold in Ireland this year up to the end of May 2021 stands at 4167. This compares to 4813 in the whole of 2020 and shows the strong sales growth in this sector.
 
Jeff Aherne, Innovation Lead, Cartell.ie says, “While EVs are gaining traction in the market they are still growing from a relatively low base, so exponential growth is to be expected in the coming years. There is no doubt, with the manufacturer investment and Government incentives, vehicles of this type are going to continue to grow in the market and, ultimately, they will replace the fossil-fuel-aspirated engines. The rise of Volkswagen in this category is a story in itself, the buyer clearly likes the options they are providing.”