New cars in 2026: 42% electric in September, 28% from January to September

CSO figures show how the fuel mix of new cars has changed since 2015, how 2026 compares with 2025, and which counties have the most electric cars for their population.

In September 2026, more new cars were electric than petrol and diesel together

Of the 7,326 new private cars licensed in September 2026, 3,074 (42%) were fully electric. Petrol and diesel cars together came to 1,759, or 24%, according to the CSO. Electric also beat petrol and diesel combined in July and August 2026, but not across January to September as a whole (33,633 against 38,061).

A year earlier, in September 2025, the electric share was 29.7%. Ten years earlier, the picture was the reverse: in 2016, seven in ten new cars ran on diesel, and fewer than 400 of the 141,931 new cars were electric.

Hybrids and plug-in hybrids make up four in ten new cars

A hybrid has a petrol or diesel engine and a battery that the car charges itself. A plug-in hybrid (PHEV) has a bigger battery that can also be charged from a socket. From January to September 2026, hybrids made up 25% of new cars and plug-in hybrids 15%.

Across the first nine months of 2026, 119,709 new private cars were licensed, up 5% on 2025 and close to the 120,797 for all of 2025. Petrol was the single biggest fuel type in the first nine months of 2025, with 29,742 cars. In 2026, electric took that place, while petrol fell by 22% and diesel by 24%.

Month by month, the electric share kept climbing in 2026

The electric share of new cars rose almost every month of 2026. It was 22.4% in January, reached 30% in June and rose to 42.0% in September. Over the same months, the combined share of petrol and diesel fell from 31.2% to 24.0%.

Sales are uneven through the year. January 2026 was the busiest month, with 24,231 new cars, followed by July with 20,322. July also had the most new electric cars of any month, at 7,216.

Ordinary hybrids still outsell plug-in hybrids. From January to September 2026 there were 29,774 hybrids and 18,241 plug-in hybrids. Hybrids grew by 14% on 2025, and plug-ins by 6%.

Electric car numbers have risen almost tenfold since 2019

Growth has not been smooth. New electric cars fell from 22,493 in 2023 to 17,191 in 2024, before rising to 23,398 in 2025. The first nine months of 2026 have already passed that by more than 10,000.

Imported used cars matter too. They made up 37% of all cars licensed for the first time from January to September 2026. Of those 70,207 imports, 11% were electric, up from 5% a year earlier.

Imported cars are also getting older. From January to September 2026, 29% of used imports were more than 10 years old, up from 14% in 2022. Only 1% were under a year old.

• Most popular new electric models in September 2026, by the CSO count:
• Tesla Model 3: 454
• Tesla Model Y: 282
• MG MG4: 214
• Volkswagen ID.4: 186
• Hyundai Inster: 131

Wicklow and Kildare lead for electric cars per person

The map below is not about 2026 sales. It shows all private electric cars licensed in June 2026, from the CSO count of the whole fleet. Wicklow had 37.8 licensed electric private cars per 1,000 people, the highest of any county.

In raw numbers, Dublin had by far the most electric private cars, 47,401, followed by Cork (13,840) and Kildare (8,789). Leitrim had the fewest, 434. Monaghan, Donegal, Mayo and Longford had fewer than 12 per 1,000 people, about a third of the Wicklow rate.

So most cars on Irish roads still run on petrol or diesel. In June 2026, 85.3% of all 3,340,922 licensed vehicles did. Electric cars are newer: 81.1% of private electric cars were less than five years old.

Ireland is ahead of the EU average, though. In 2024, electric cars were 3.1% of Ireland's passenger car fleet, against 2.2% across the 27 EU countries, the CSO reports.