{"id":379240,"date":"2026-03-11T10:01:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/379240\/"},"modified":"2026-03-11T10:01:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T10:01:10","slug":"evs-cheaper-than-diesel-cars-on-second-hand-market-for-first-time-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/379240\/","title":{"rendered":"EVs \u2018cheaper than diesel cars\u2019 on second-hand market for first time \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Electric cars have become cheaper than comparable diesel vehicles on Ireland\u2019s used car market for the first time, a report from DoneDeal<\/a> Cars has said.<\/p>\n

The sharp decline in second-hand electric vehicle<\/a> (EV) prices also appears to have stabilised, said the report, which suggested the market was entering a \u201cmore settled phase\u201d after years of volatility.<\/p>\n

After falling significantly in 2023 and 2024, used-EV prices were broadly flat year-on-year by the end of 2025, suggesting the major price correction \u201chas now run its course\u201d, DoneDeal Cars said.<\/p>\n

Across all cars in the data set, a typical three-year-old electric car now has a median asking price of \u20ac28,825, compared with \u20ac35,893 for a diesel vehicle of the same age.<\/p>\n

When factors such as age, mileage and model are taken into account, second-hand electric cars are now priced about 11 per cent below comparable diesel vehicles, marking a shift from 2022 when EVs carried a price premium.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Volvo boss rebukes the EV doubters: \u2018We are convinced electric is the right answer\u2019<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Petrol cars remain the cheapest option upfront, with a typical three-year-old model priced at around \u20ac22,900, but the gap between petrol and electric vehicles has narrowed in recent years.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data suggests the used-EV market has now entered a more stable phase following a turbulent period triggered by falling new-car prices, reduced purchase grants and increased supply of electric vehicles entering the second-hand market,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, this price correction is the mechanism required for mass market maturity. The falling prices, while painful for early adopters, have resulted in a healthy, accessible and burgeoning second-hand market. <\/p>\n

\u201cWith the financial penalty for choosing electric removed, we expect this improved affordability to be the primary catalyst for accelerating the transition to zero-emission driving in the coming years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tom Gillespie, environmental economist at the University of Galway<\/a>, said the \u201cdownward pressure\u201d on prices was driven by \u201ca perfect storm of slashed new car prices, reduced grants, charging infrastructure anxiety and wavering consumer confidence\u201d. <\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, this now seems to be a thing of the past: used prices have remained stable and the share of new EV registrations continues to increases,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The report also said Brexit<\/a> had reshaped Ireland\u2019s used-car supply chain. Imports from the UK have fallen sharply since 2019, while Japan<\/a> now accounts for roughly half of all second-hand car imports into Ireland.<\/p>\n

It said many of the used-car imports from Japan were European brands that were originally sold in the Japanese market before being re-exported.<\/p>\n

Paddy Comyn, DoneDeal head of automotive content and communications, said the EV market had \u201ccome through a full cycle\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrices surged during the supply shortages of the pandemic years, then corrected sharply as supply improved and manufacturers cut new-car prices,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we\u2019re seeing now is the market settling into a more normal pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big shift is that electric cars are no longer carrying a premium over diesel. In many cases they\u2019re thousands cheaper, which is a significant turning point for buyers considering making the switch.\u201d<\/p>\n

The report also highlighted ongoing pressures in the lower end of the used-car market. Prices of vehicles below \u20ac6,000 rose by 7.6 per cent year-on-year, reflecting continued shortages of cheaper cars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Electric cars have become cheaper than comparable diesel vehicles on Ireland\u2019s used car market for the first time,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379241,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[6504,79,148863,18,8888,19,17,386,20351],"class_list":{"0":"post-379240","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-donedeal-ie","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-electric-vehicles","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-japan","16":"tag-university-of-galway"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116209967812469115","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379241"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}