'Positive performance': Longford records 110% spike in electric car registrations
Last month 2,779 new electric cars were registered, which was almost 110% higher than the 1,335 registrations in April 2025.
New electric car registrations in county Longford soared by nearly 110% in April 2026 compared to the same month last year, according to new figures.
The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) recently released its official 261 new vehicle registration statistics for April.
There were 304 new car registrations during the first four months of this year, a drop of 9% compared to the 334 new car registrations during the same four week period in 2025.
However, a total of 2,779 new electric cars (battery electric cars) were registered in April 2026, which was 109.7% higher than the 1,335 registrations in April 2025.
So far this year, 16,779 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 48.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, when 11,299 electric cars were registered.
New car registrations overall and nationally for April were up 17% to 10,184 compared to the 8,707 registrations recorded in April 2025, while registrations in the year to date were up 2.1% (75,074) on the same period last year (73,491).
Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) decreased by 3% (2,450) compared to April last year (2,525), while Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations were down 20.5% when there was 221 in comparison to the 278 registrations in April 2025.
In the new car market share by engine type, Hybrid (Petrol Electric) leads at 26.67% as the most popular engine type, followed by Electric 22.35%, Petrol 21.25%, Plug-In Hybrid 14.41%, and Diesel 12.96%.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, who commented on the national figures, said, “April’s new car market saw a 17% increase when compared to the same month last year, with 10,184 units registered.
"Year-to-date new car sales are 2% ahead of last year, with a total of 75,074 new cars registered.
“New battery electric vehicles for April delivered another positive performance across all counties, with 2,799 units registered, compared to 1,335 in April 2025.”
Mr Cooke said year-to-date BEV sales have reached 16,779 units, a 49% increase on the same period last year with the strong performance primarily driven by private consumers.