The majority of electric vehicles sold in Australia in 2022 will come from China and be purchased by private buyers, while the ACT continues to outpace all other states and territories when it comes to EV adoption.
This is part of a summary of the Australian low-emissions market released by car brand peak body, the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industry (FCAI), using its VFACTS sales data.
This promised quarterly report appears to be a response to the Electric Vehicle Council, which has made progress as which advocacy groups for EV uptake, and to stimulate policy decisions.
Australians take delivery of 33,410 battery electric vehicles in 2022, which is sixfold year-on-year (YoY) growth on paper – offset by the fact that Tesla only started publishing local sales figures last year, skewing the data.
That equates to a market share of around 3 percent, with the growth trajectory pointing to higher figures in 2023 – EV share is north of 6 percent by the end of February 2023.
Throughout 2022, we see the EV market increasingly favoring crossover SUV body styles over traditional passenger cars, mostly coinciding with the much-anticipated launch of the Tesla Model Y around mid-year and the BYD Atto 3 a few months after.
“This is consistent with other markets around the world. The availability of battery electric models in the light commercial and heavy commercial segments of the market remains limited and is likely to remain so throughout the current model cycle,” added FCAI – although we will add some electric vans are here or to come this year.
Importantly, the brief also notes that EV take-up is still dominated by the private market rather than fleets, making it clear that the government’s fringe benefit tax cut for businesses buying battery-powered vehicles is a sensible move to grow parcs.
EV sales by type of buyer in 2022
- Private market: 24,534
- Business fleet: 8125
- Government fleet: 488
- Rental fleet: 269
All told, about 80 percent of EVs sold here in 2022 will be made in China, which is a concern for those focused on geopolitics.
All Teslas sold here come out of Giga Shanghai, while other top sellers such as the BYD Atto 3, Polestar 2 and MG ZS EV are also made there. China dominates the global EV chain, although Europe and the US are working to change that through policy levers.
EV sales by source country in 2022
- China: 26,426
- Korea: 3555
- Germany: 2426
- England: 792
- Japan: 137
EV sales by region
One of the more interesting takeaways is the difference in EV uptake across states and territories, all of which offer some form of subsidy or tax break for EV buyers.
The Northern Territory is unusual in the sense that EVs are almost non-existent there, while in the ACT the EV market share is 8.0 per cent. The ACT government offers EV buyers stamp duty exemptions, free registration and interest-free loans to encourage take-up.
EV sales and shares 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
- Polestar: 1524
- Volvo: 1474
- BMW: 1293
- Mercedes-Benz: 1153
- MG: 1119
- Kia: 949
- Mini: 455
Top 10 EV models by sales in 2022
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