35% increase in new electric car sales in Galway so far this year

There has been a 35 percent increase in the number of new electric car sales in Galway so far this year.

Almost 800 have been registered in the city and county between January and September.

That’s an increase of over 200 on the same time in 2022.

Nationally, there has been a bigger jump in new electric car registrations.

Since the start of the year, more than 21,000 have been registered, a 50 percent rise on the 14,500 on the same period last year.

However, that trend has been bucked in the past month, with new electric vehicle registrations dropping by 10 percent in September.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry says its crucial the Government maintain EV incentives at their current level in the upcoming budget.

It says the September drop could be because the demand curve is moving away from the early-adopter stage.

That means any new EV buyers will be more price conscious, and therefore more in need of incentives to make the move to electric