Despite a relatively late arrival to the electric vehicle scene, Volkswagen has enjoyed a strong start to its electrification goals.
Between January and May this year, the German brand sold 1,231 electric vehicles (EVs ) here in Ireland, more than double that of the next best seller Nissan. And the top selling EV models are also Volkswagen, with the ID.3 and ID.4 making an impression with buyers.
According to analysis on EV sales in the Irish market by Cartell.ie and CarsIreland.ie, the top-two best-selling models so far this year have both been Volkswagen models. The aforementioned ID.4 (618 sales ) and the ID.3 (523 sales ) took the top-two places followed by the Nissan Leaf and Kia Niro, with 483 and 378 models sold respectively. Cartell.ie also reports that compared with petrol and diesel counterparts, owners of EVs tend to hold onto their vehicles longer. Cartell.ie looked at all private cars registered between 2013 and 2019 to consider ownership changes. The company found that 65 per cent of EVs registered during that period are still with the first owner – this contrasts with a figure of 40 per cent for the private fleet as a whole for the same period.
Finally, Cartell.ie looked at the overall number of EVs sold in Ireland in the year to the end of May 2021. While 2020 was a record year for EV sales, the tally set last year looks like it will be surpassed by some margin this year - already more than 4,000 EVs have been sold this year.
Jeff Aherne, innovation lead at 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," he says. “The rise of Volkswagen in this category is a story in itself – the buyer clearly likes the options they are providing.”
