Australia’s EV market by brand, region and buyer type
The majority of EVs sold in Australia in 2022 came from China and were purchased by private buyers, while the ACT continues to outperform all other states and territories in EV adoption.
These are some takeaways from a summary of the Australian low-emission vehicle market, released by the Federal Automotive Industry Association (FCAI) using their VFACTS sales data.
These promised quarterly reports appear to be a response to the Electric Vehicle Council, which has established itself as an advocacy group for electric vehicle adoption and a spur to policy decisions.
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Australians received 33,410 battery electric vehicles in 2022, which represents a sixfold annual growth (YoY) on paper – offset by the fact that Tesla only started publishing local sales figures last year, which skewed the data.
That equates to a market share of around 3 percent, with the growth trajectory pointing to a much higher figure in 2023 – the EV share is over 6 percent by the end of February 2023.
Throughout 2022, we’ve seen the EV market increasingly favor crossover SUV body styles over traditional passenger vehicles, many of which coincided with the launch of the long-awaited Tesla Model Y mid-year and the BYD Atto 3 a few months later.
“This is in line with other markets around the world. The availability of battery-electric models in the market-preferred light-duty and heavy-duty segments remains limited and is likely to remain so throughout the current model cycles,” adds the FCAI – although we would add that there are, or are coming, a number of electric vans here this year.
Crucially, the summary also notes that EV adoption is still dominated by the private market rather than fleets, clearly indicating that the government’s tax cuts on ancillary services for companies buying battery-powered vehicles were a sensible move to enlarge the park.
EV sales by buyer type in 2022
- Private Market: 24,534
- Business fleets: 8125
- Government fleets: 488
- Rental fleets: 269
Overall, about 80 percent of the electric vehicles sold here in 2022 were made in China, which is a key point for those focused on geopolitics.
All Teslas sold here come from Giga Shanghai, but other top sellers such as the BYD Atto 3, Polestar 2 and MG ZS EV are also manufactured there. China dominates the global EV chain, although Europe and the US are working to change this through political leverage.
EV sales by country of origin in 2022
- China: 26,426
- Korea: 3555
- Germany: 2426
- England: 792
- Japan: 137
EV sales by region
One of the more interesting findings is the disparity in EV penetration across states and territories, all of which offer some form of subsidy or tax break for EV buyers.
The Northern Territory is an outlier in that it has almost no EVs, while in the ACT the EV market share was 8.0 percent. The ACT government is offering EV buyers a stamp duty exemption, free registration and interest-free loans to encourage adoption.
EV sales and share by region
- NSW: 10,798 EV sales, 3.2% EV market share
- Victoria: 9496 EV sales, 3.3% EV market share
- Queensland: 6696 EV sales, 2.8% EV market share
- WA: 3078 EV sales, 2.9% EV market share
- SA: 1426 EV sales, 2.1% EV market share
- ACT: 1300 EV sales, 8.0% EV market share
- Tasmania: 571 sales, 3.0% EV market share
- NT: 68 sales, 0.7% EV market share
Top 10 EV brands in 2022
- Tesla: 19,594
- Hyundai: 2432
- BYD: 2113
- North Star: 1524
- Volvo: 1474
- BMW: 1293
- Mercedes Benz: 1153
- MW: 1119
- Kia: 949
- Mini: 455
Top 10 EV models by sales in 2022
MORE: Australia’s new car launch calendar
https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/motoring/australias-ev-market-by-brand-region-and-buyer-type-c-10084512 Australia’s EV market by brand, region and buyer type
