EV sales take another hit in June but still trending upwards

Electric vehicle sales in Australia fell 13.2 per cent in June, marking the second monthly downturn in the first half of 2024 after a 5.1 per cent slip was recorded in April.

However, it’s too early to determine whether Australia is following other markets such as Europe and the United States with drastically slowing EV sales.

VFACTS figures show that after the first six months of trading, EV sales in Australia have grown 16.5 per cent compared to the same period last year, passing 50,000 units and placing the industry on course to reach the 100,000 milestone for the first time.

Last year, a record 87,217 EVs were delivered to Australian buyers, a phenomenal 161 per cent increase over 2022 that saw electric cars account for 7.2 per cent of total industry sales in what was an all-time record high of 1.217 million units across all types of new vehicles.

Ongoing triple-digit growth is not anticipated as EVs become more established in Australia, so the current progress is considered a solid performance.

In the first half of 2024, the market share of EVs has also increased to 7.9 per cent, however there’s still a long road ahead before they overtake hybrid cars (currently at 12.9 per cent, based on 81,619 sales year-to-date), let alone petrol and diesel cars at 43.1 and 30.7 per cent respectively (466,615 sales combined).

Rampant discounting in recent months among various brands is a reflection of increased competition in the EV sector, as well as the relatively slow uptake for unloved and expensive models in some cases.

State and territory government subsidies for new EV purchases have also been wound back.

Tesla remains the EV sales leader by a long shot, holding a 28.3 per cent market share, but its sales have dropped 9.6 per cent this year and new entrants from emerging and established brands alike – from BYD and MG through to Toyota and Volvo – have eroded the 52.8 per cent share the US brand enjoyed last year.

That also means the sales trends are not so heavily dependent on Tesla’s production and shipping schedules from China, where the Model 3 and Model Y are built.

Industry experts are predicting sales of all new vehicles in the months ahead will slow down from the record pace set during the first half, particularly with the threat of another interest rate hike and as cost-of-living pressures continue to impact Australian households.

Just how much that specifically impacts EVs, which are priced higher than regular combustion-engined cars, remains to be seen.

But over the longer term, EV proponents such as the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) say the mass migration from combustion engines to battery-electric powertrains will continue.

“It’s important to focus on the long-term trends here,” EVC interim chief executive Samantha Johnson told carsales today.

“More than 50,000 fully electric vehicles have been sold in Australia so far this year … [and] battery and plug-in hybrid EVs represented 9.2 per cent of all car sales – higher than the first half of 2023 at eight per cent.

“This shift to low- and zero-emissions cars has seen petrol vehicle sales steadily declining.

“Australian motorists are increasingly making the switch to low- and zero-emissions cars to save money and help cut emissions in the process. More charging infrastructure, increased availability of EVs at lower prices, the FBT exemption and other government incentives are all contributing to the rising uptake of electric cars in Australia.

“More and more car brands, vehicle types and infrastructure are becoming available, boosted by the government’s new New Vehicle Efficiency Standard. We expect Australians will increasingly find it easy to dive straight into electric driving.”

Top 10 EVs in Australia – January-June 2024

Note: Polestar sales are no longer reported through VFACTS and are therefore not included in the national figures. For the record, Polestar has sold 950 examples of the Polestar 2 in the first half of 2024 and its 356 sales in June had little impact on the downturn recorded across all other brands.

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