Co Monaghan has the second lowest number of electric car sales in Ireland. Only 5.7% of new cars registered in the county between January 2020 and June 2024 were EVs. In Co Cavan 7.4 per cent of new cars registered were EVs during during that same period with Co Roscommon recording the lowest number of electric car sales in Ireland at 3.4%. According to the Irish Independent, in most counties, they make up between one in 10 and one in 14. New data also shows that rural counties like Cavan and Monaghan remain the slowest to switch to EVs.
Meanwhile, there's a call for drivers in rural areas to get larger grants towards the cost of electric vehicles. Former Environment Minister Richard Bruton believes the government needs to 'double down' on electrification. Since 2020 just one in 29 cars sold in County Roscommon was electric. In Dublin, Kildare and Meath they make up one in six and one in seven new car registrations. Professor in Transportation Brian Caulfield from Trinity College Dublin says cost could a factor in the rural urban divide.
