EVs in Australia — State of the States

Year to date, 2022 has seen a 65% increase in electric vehicle sales in Australia. So, with 3 months to go and ships already arriving, will we see the fulfillment of Robyn Denholm’s prophecy that Tesla would double the number of its cars on the road by the end of the year? It looks likely.

It is hard to keep up with the numbers of electric vehicles being sold here at the moment, as a new record seems to be reached every month. Veda Prime tells us that the first shipment for the 4th quarter from Tesla Shanghai onboard the Turandot has now docked. The Tesla Facebook community is speculating that it contains 800 Model Ys. Some who have ordered the Model 3 are disappointed.

The Electric Vehicle Council lists the penetration rate in a “state of the states” report within a broader State of Electric Vehicles report. Although the numbers are small, the graph looks like it is heading to the vertical. See page 8. Over 50% of EVs sold in Australia are Tesla Model 3s and Model Ys. There are 25 models that have sold more than 200 units. Hopefully we will see the market develop as it has in Europe, where there are OEMs that can truly compete with Tesla for market share. Of the 15 top selling EVs, 12 were BEVs and 5 were new models to the Australian market — reflecting the trend we are now seeing overseas.

“Every Australian state and territory government has now introduced some form of incentive for the purchase of electric vehicles. These incentives include: upfront rebates off the purchase price of the vehicle, zero interest loans, and stamp duty and registration discounts.

“While it is still too early to assess the impact of these policies — with many launched in the past 12 months — as shown we can see that the ACT continues to lead the country on EV sales (as a proportion of new vehicle sales) at 9.5%, followed by New South Wales (3.7%), Victoria (3.4%), Queensland (3.3%), Tasmania (3.3%), Western Australia (2.8%), South Australia (2.3%), and the Northern Territory (0.8%).

“It is notable to also mention that New South Wales has seen a 84% increase in EV sales during 2022 so far compared to 2021, followed by a 76% increase in the ACT, and a 75% increase in the Northern Territory.”

The next three months should prove to be exciting as ships arrive, and as new models are introduced to market so charged up that a carmaker can sell out within minutes! That’s what happened recently with the Hyundai Ioniq 5, which happens to be a contender for the 2022 CleanTechnica Car of the Year award.

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