Queensland motorists looking to buy an electric vehicle (EV) will no longer be able to access the state’s generous $6000 rebate, due to end at midnight tonight.
In a press release published over the weekend, Queensland’s Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Bart Mellish, announced the Zero Emission Vehicle Rebate Scheme would be axed on Tuesday September 3, more than two years after its introduction.
Initially launching on July 1, 2022 as a $45 million package to incentivise Queensland motorists to purchase an EV, the scheme initially provided a $3000 rebate to those who purchased a battery-powered vehicle with a list price of $58,000 or below.
100s of new car deals are available through CarExpert right now. Get the experts on your side and score a great deal. Browse now.
The threshold was increased to $68,000 from July 1, 2023, as was the rebate amount, doubling to $6000 – the most offered by any Australian jurisdiction to subsidise EV purchases.
Now it’s being wound up before the planned mid-2025 end date, with the Queensland Government claiming more than 10,000 residents benefitted from the scheme since it was introduced in July 2022.
However, it also said over 46,000 new EVs have been purchased across the same period, suggesting a vast majority were purchased without the rebate.
Its early end has come due to the allocation of funds intended for the rebates being exhausts, as well as “significant decreases in the price of new cars with the price of popular models dropping from between as much as 10-30 percent since the end of 2023.”
According to the State Government, approximately one per cent of all cars registered in Queensland are now EVs, compared to just 0.2 per cent when the scheme started.
IThe Queensland Government had previously announced it would spend $10 million to co-fund more public EV chargers, and replace all eligible government fleet vehicles with electric vehicles as current leases expire.
Queensland is the fourth Australian state to end its EV rebates ahead of time, though it’s understood to be the first to do so due to all funds for the incentives being exhausted.
Victoria ended its $3000 EV purchase subsidy on June 30, 2023 – well before it was meant to conclude in May 2024 (or when 20,000 rebates had been allocated) and little more than two years since it began in May 2021.
From September 2021 to January 2024, 25,000 New South Wales residents could access a $3000 rebate on EVs priced up to $68,750, however this was scrapped before the sales target was reached.
South Australia ended its $3000 rebate for new EVs and plug-in hybrids under $68,750 before on-road costs on January 1, 2024 – 18 months before the June 2025 planned end date.
MORE: What EV rebates and incentives are offered across Australia?
