Australia's 2023 electric car sales by make, model and region

Battery electric vehicles accounted for a record 7.4 per cent of total new vehicle sales in Australia over the first half of 2023, with a tick over 43,000 EVs delivered into customer hands.

At this point last year the EV market share was just 1.8 per cent – meaning a four-fold increase in share over just 12 months.

The pace of adoption is speeding up with each quarter too. EV sales over the second quarter of the calendar year (25,752 units) were 48 per cent higher than over the first quarter (17,399).

This means the market share for EVs over Q2 was actually 8.2 per cent, compared with 6.5 per cent over Q1.

There are now 45 electric passenger cars, SUVs and light commercials on sale that have found at least one customer this year, sold under 24 different car brands.

EV sales and share by region over H1 of 2023:

Some insights from H1 of 2023:

• Around 60 per cent of all EVs sold over the first half of the year were made by Tesla, reflecting its ongoing dominance.
• The Tesla Model Y is the overall top-selling SUV regardless of fuel type, and the Model 3 is the overall top-selling passenger vehicle regardless of fuel type.
• The top seven EVs are all sourced from China: Tesla Model Y and Model 3, BYD Atto 3, MG ZS EV, Volvo XC40 , Polestar 2, and Volvo C40.
• 86.9 per cent of all EVs sold came from China: 37,441 out of 43,092 units total.
• The ACT has EV market share of 20 per cent, making it a massive outlier. Much of this down to government fleet adoption.
• Despite being the most expensive place in Australia to buy and run an EV, Victoria’s share in line with overall market average.
• The brand with the widest EV range is Mercedes-Benz with seven electric models, yet its EV market share was just 2.7 per cent – in line with its overall market share.
• EV share of passenger vehicles is an impressive 14.1 per cent, with 14,641 sales out of 103,927 being pure electric. Passenger vehicles are sedans, hatchbacks, coupes, convertibles and people-movers.
• EV share of the SUV market was 8.8 per cent (28,628 sales out of 322,213).
• The area with major room for improvement is the diesel-dominated light commercial segment (utes and vans), with a minuscule 0.06 per cent being an EV (78 sales out of 129,025).
• EV sales (43,151) have actually finished H1 higher than sales of hybrids (38,313), but it’s important to caveat that Toyota, which dominates, is severely supply-constrained.
• PHEVs are nowhere, with just 3532 sales, up 20 per cent this year but from a low base.

Some things to watch in H2 of 2023:

• The result for H1 was recorded before Tesla slashed its prices last weekend by $3900, thereby making the Model Y eligible for various $3000-$6000 state rebates.
• Likewise, it doesn’t factor in the lower-end EV price war happening between Chinese brands right now, with the BYD Dolphin, MG 4 and GWM Ora all newly available under $40,000.
• These factors, as well as ongoing improvements to the global logistics chain, should see EV sales continue to grow into Q3 and Q4.

EV share by brand over H1 of 2023:

EV sales by model over H1 of 2023: