Electric Vehicle Dealership award for Keary’s BMW & Mini of Eastgate, Little Island, Cork

1 February 2023
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie

County Winners announced for the 2023 ZEVI Electric Vehicle Dealership of the Year Awards 

Zero Vehicles Emissions Ireland (ZEVI), a dedicated office within the Department of Transport, and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) reecntly announced the winners of ZEVI’s EV Dealership of the Year Awards which is now in its second year. These awards recognise and reward excellence in the promotion and sales of electric vehicles (EV) in Ireland.

In total, 124 car dealerships from 24 counties participated in the 2023 ZEVI EV Dealership of the Year Awards, representing a 6% increase in entries from 2022. Car dealerships are a vital part of the transition to clean and efficient transport. Funded by ZEVI, these SEAI administered awards recognise the dealerships who are working to increase consumers understanding and experience of EVs and their uptake on Irish roads.

Car dealers competed through a mystery shopping exercise where they were scored on a number of factors including how visible EVs were in the showroom, how knowledgeable their salespeople were on EVs, and their sales approach. Other evaluation areas included EV training, sales trends and the dealership’s website.

The winners announced are on the shortlist for the regional awards which will be announced at this year’s Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) Annual Dinner taking place on Thursday, 16th of February 2023. The four regional winners will then be on the shortlist for the overall national winner award which will be announced at the SEAI Energy Show taking place in the RDS, Dublin on the 30th of March.

Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said 

 “We saw record sales of EVs in Ireland last year. The dealer awards commend the hard work of the car dealers supporting their clients making the switch to electric and celebrates the growing shift towards sustainable clean transport. It’s an exciting time to be working in this growing area. As the sales of EVs continue to grow, it is the award winners of today who are setting the standards and demonstrating the expertise needed in this industry in future.” 

Commenting on the announcement Declan Meally, Director of Business, Public Sector and Transport at SEAI said: 

“The 2023 dealer awards were extremely competitive, and we want to congratulate the 24 county award winners.  It is inspiring to see the continued commitment and dedication of the dealerships to reducing emissions in the transport sector and helping Ireland develop a cleaner, more efficient transport future.  It is great to see a significant increase not only in EV sales, but in participation in the 2023 awards.  SEAI recognises that car dealerships and their staff are a key enabler of EV uptake and are delighted to reward excellence in the showroom.”

As well as the new entries for 2023 there are also five returning winners who will represent their County for the second year, these include Cavan: Cavan Autoparc Ltd., Cork: Kearys Eastgate, Longford: O’Reilly & Sons, Meath: Windsor Clonee and Monaghan: Doran Motors.

County Winners

*Note there were no entries from Leitrim or Roscommon