Demand for premium used EVs in Ireland up by 270%

Research by Donedeal, Ireland’s largest motor & classifieds marketplace has found that demand for second-hand premium EVs (defined as cars between one and four years old costing more than  €30,000) had risen by 270% the the 12 months to January 2023. It is that the figures are so high because of the delays in having new models delivered.

Other finding from the research include:

• Demand for new EVs was up 32%
• Demand for all EVs costing €30,000 and above was up 97% compared to January 2022.
• 70% of those surveyed said they plan on buying another EV as their next car purchase.
• 74% said their running costs are less than their previous petrol or diesel car.

The Government in Ireland wants a third of the cars in the country be EVs by 2030 although according to the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s latest figures, out of a total of 2.8m vehicles on the road, just over 67,000 were EVS by the end of October last year. Over the course of last year, 15,678 electric cars were registered, which is equivalent to about 15% of all new car registrations.

The number of EVs being registered was a 86% increase on the previous year.

The Irish Minister for Transport, Eamon Ryan, recently launched an Electric Vehicles Charging Infrastructure Strategy, which will see €100 million spent on public charging infrastructure over the next three years.

Mr Ryan said at the time: ‘The EV Strategy sets out a roadmap for creating an entirely new infrastructure across the country – one that people can have confidence in and one that will encourage more and more people to choose EVs. It’s happening already – EV sales are sky-rocketing – but the new infrastructure we are planning should take away concern or worry that people might have about access to charging points.’

Currently, the majority of EV charging- around 80% – is done at home so the strategy is keen to develop residential neighbourhood charging, destination charging and motorway/en-route charging to fill the gaps.

Hopefully the strategy will do a better job of distributing the chargers than we have in the UK.