Australian electric vehicle market by brand, region and buyer type

news7g03/19/2023

3 2 minutes read

The vast majority of electric vehicles sold in Australia in 2022 come from China and are purchased by private buyers, while the ACT continues to outpace all other states and territories in electric vehicle consumption.

These are some of the takeaways from the low-emissions market summary for Australia produced by the highest body for car brands, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry (FCAI), using VFACTS sales data. of this agency.

These promised quarterly reports appear to be an affront to the Electric Vehicle Council, which has infiltrated as the groups that advocate for the use of electric vehicles and promote policy decisions.

Australians delivered 33,410 battery electric vehicles in 2022, a six-fold increase from the same period last year (YoY) on paper – offset by Tesla only starting to release local sales figures in last, falsifying the data.

That equates to a market share of around 3%, with a growth trajectory towards much higher numbers in 2023 – the EV market share sits north of 6% through the end of February 2023.

Throughout 2022, we’ve seen the electric vehicle market increasingly favor crossover SUV bodies over traditional passenger cars, much of which coincides with the launch of the much-awaited Tesla Model Y. long wait around mid year and BYD Atto 3 a few months later.

“This is consistent with other markets around the world. The availability of battery-powered electric vehicles in the preferred light commercial and heavy commercial segments of the market remains limited and is likely to remain so throughout the model cycles. currently,” adds FCAI – although we would like to add there are some electric trucks here or coming this year.

Importantly, the summary also notes that the private market is still dominant rather than fleets, making it clear that the government’s tax cut side benefit for businesses buying battery-powered vehicles is a reasonable moves to develop the market.

Electric vehicle sales by buyer type in 2022

Private market: 24,534
Business fleet: 8125
Government fleet: 488
Car rental fleet: 269

All told that 80% of electric vehicles sold here by 2022 are made in China, which is a point of note for those focused on geopolitics.

All of the Teslas sold here come from Giga Shanghai, while other best-selling cars like the BYD Atto 3, Polestar 2, and MG ZS EV are also made there. China dominates the global electric vehicle chain, although Europe and the US are looking to change this through policy levers.

Electric vehicle sales by source country in 2022

China: 26,426
Korea: 3555
Germany: 2426
English: 792
Japan: 137

Electric vehicle sales by region

One of the more interesting things is the difference in electric vehicle usage between states and territories, all provide some form of subsidy or tax relief for EV buyers.

The Northern Territory is an exception in the sense that trams are almost non-existent there, while in the ACT the market share of electric vehicles is 8.0%. The ACT government offers electric vehicle buyers registration tax-free, free registration, and interest-free loans to promote use.

Electric vehicle sales and share by region