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Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan has announced the introduction of green ‘flash’ registration plates for zero emission vehicles. The green flash plates will identify a vehicle as zero emission, giving them unique visibility and promoting the green transition on our roads.
The tailored registration plates will look the same as existing plates, but have an added green ‘flash’ or stripe denoting the vehicle’s zero-emission status. The green flash will be on the right-hand side of the plate, mirroring the European Union blue stripe on the left side. The usual figures and county identifiers will remain unchanged.
Countries across Europe including Germany, Norwa and the United Kingdom have similar arrangements, with plates on zero emission vehicles bearing ether a green flash, the letter ‘E’ for electric, or a green badge or border.
To be eligible for the green flash registration plate, the vehicle must emit zero emissions at the tailpipe. This includes full battery electric vehicles and, in the future, fuel cell hydrogen vehicles. All categories of vehicles such as cars, motorbikes, vans, buses and trucks which are zero emission at the tailpipe will be permitted to carry the new green ‘flash’.
There are now over 96 different battery electric vehicle models available in the Irish market and they continue to grow in range and in numbers. The green flash plate will clearly make the distinction between zero tailpipe emission vehicles, and other types.
The new registration plates will be introduced next year. This will allow the necessary legislative and technological amendments to be made.
The green ‘flash’ plates will not be mandatory. It will be at the discretion of dealerships and consumers whether to apply the new registration plate. For zero emission vehicles already on the roads, drivers will be able to ‘opt in’ and retrofit their vehicle with the new plate.
Minister Ryan said:
“This initiative will help identify and highlight zero emission vehicles on our roads. It’s already standard in many other countries. It is just a mark or brand but it works really well. Drivers like it and it’s a great way of tracking the ongoing move to electric on our roads. It will allow businesses to show leadership on transport emissions and help us visualise our zero emission future.
The new green ‘flash’ is another step in Ireland’s transition to electric and underlines our ongoing commitment to making that happen. This year alone, the Government has made over €115 million available to support the roll-out of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure. In the latest Budget, we have seen a suite of additional taxation measures across Benefit in Kind and Vehicle Registration Tax which aim to further incentivise the transition.”
For more information, visit www.gov.ie/zevi.
The new green flash registration plates will be introduced from 1st July 2025.
The Climate Action Plan provides a road map to cut Ireland’s transport missions by 50% by 2030. Electrification of transport fleets is expected to provide the largest share of emissions abatement, in the short to medium term.
There are currently 142,545 electric vehicles (79,066 battery electric vehicles and 63,479 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) on Irish roads (National Vehicles and Driver File, end of September 2024). Ireland has an ambitious target under the Climate Action Plan to shift 30% of the private vehicle fleet to electric by 2030.
There are already a number of direct incentives in place to support the transition to electric vehicles including:
- A purchase grant for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) of up to €3,500;
- A Home Charger purchase grant scheme – up to €300;
- VRT relief of up to €5,000 for the purchase of BEVs;
- Benefit-in-Kind tax relief for battery electric vehicles;
- eSPSV grant scheme – a generous grant for taxi drivers to make the switch to Wheelchair Accessible EVs of up to €25,000;
- ZEHDV grant scheme – a grant scheme for HDVs to bridge the gap between a low-emission vehicle and a fossil fuel vehicle; and
- Low rate of annual motor tax.
Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI)
is a dedicated office within the Department of Transport charged with supporting consumers, the public sector and businesses to continue to make the switch to zero emission vehicles. The Office is leading on the delivery of Ireland’s ambitious targets to have an expected 30% of our private car fleet switched to electric by 2030.
The Government has committed significant funding to support zero and low-emitting vehicles through the National Development Plan, which currently includes an allocation of almost €500 million for the period 2021-2025 and additional support from the Climate Action Fund, the Shared Island Fund and the EU Just Transition Fund.