According to DoneDeal, during May searches for electric cars on its website increased by 94% since May last year while hybrid search interest held firm, up 2% year-on-year.

Petrol held its ground throughout, up 9% year-on-year, which DoneDeal said signals that buyers leaving diesel are not returning to petrol as a default.

“They are looking at electric and hybrid options instead.” 

Searches for diesel cars on the website are down 21% year-on-year which is the largest annual fall ever recorded on the platform, and its lowest share since DoneDeal Cars began tracking fuel-type searches in September 2024.

Head of automotive content and communications at DoneDeal Cars Paddy Comyn said: “When we started tracking in September 2024, diesel had more than half of all fuel-type searches”.

“By May 2026, it had hit its lowest share on record. What’s particularly striking is the timing. Electric car searches barely moved for 18 months, then jumped sharply from March this year.” 

DoneDeal added that the increase in electric car searches reflects a “broader convergence”. Used electric car prices have become increasingly competitive and a growing number of Irish drivers now have first-hand experience of electric ownership through family or friends.

“The search data suggests those factors reached a tipping point in early 2026.” 

On the interest in hybrid vehicles, DoneDeal said some individual hybrid search categories “fell sharply year-on-year, but that reflects a change in how buyers search rather than a fall in hybrid interest”.

“Buyers have become more specific, they now search for petrol hybrid or plug-in hybrid rather than a catch-all hybrid label. When all hybrid-related categories are grouped, hybrid search interest is up 2% year-on-year,” the company said. 

The market is not turning away from hybrids. It is simply becoming more precise about what it wants.

In terms of new car sales in May, there was an overall drop of 8.8% in new car registrations during the month but electric cars continued its upward trend.

Of the 5,832 new cars registered during the month — 1,092 were electric cars which is an increase of 5.3% year-on-year.

During the first five months of the year, 12,392 new electric cars were registered, representing a 23.3% increase on the year to date in 2024.

These figures are from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) which are expected to publish the new registration numbers for June this week.

Should the war in Iran continue and the price of oil remain elevated, more people may look towards electric car options to help manage their overall costs.

Brent crude oil — an industry standard marker for the price of oil — was trading at around $93 a barrel on Monday. Prior to the outbreak of the war, it was trading at around $67.