Kia EV take-up soars to 40 per cent

Kia Australia’s investment in battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) is paying huge dividends with demand for its electric models skyrocketing from 12 to 40 per cent (of sales) in a matter of weeks. This makes the technology the brand’s most popular form of powertrain, with hybrids sitting second at 30 per cent, petrol in third at 20 per cent and diesel at 10 per cent.

While largely due to unexpected world events, it’s vindication of the brand’s strategy to invest heavily in EVs, with there now being a zero-emission model in most major segments: EV3 (compact SUV), EV4 (small car), EV5 (medium SUV), EV6 and EV9 (large SUV) and PV5 (commercial).

According to Kia Australia’s marketing general manager Dean Norbiato, many buyers are simply choosing electric when it comes to their new car.

“A high percentage of existing Kia customers are coming into the electrified product and it’s fairly representative of the current SUV market,” he said.

“Families of one to two kids are looking at the EV5, whereas empty nesters and singles are looking at an EV3. I would say skewing a little bit older, just due to the prices versus the ICE and hybrid competitors, but initially it is running fairly similar.”

CEO Damien Meredith said this was, in part, due to a conscious decision to try and attract a younger buyer: “Three years ago, we had our first EV customer night at the Australia open and every one of those owners was over 60.

“We said ‘we’ve gotta do something about this’, it’s not beneficial for the brand to have that, but we made a decision there and then we’re doing to do something about it.”

For many brands, the Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) exemption on EVs purchased through a novated lease has been a huge contributing factor in their success, but only around one in three Kia BEVs are purchased using this method.

Meredith’s not in favour of the scheme, which is under review by the government due to a massive cost blowout.

When the scheme was proposed ahead of the 2022 election, the loss of FBT revenue between then and 2028 was projected to be $409 million; this was revised to $1.795 billion in late-2024 before being revised again to $7.3 billion.

“I’d get rid of it. I think there’s structural changes [that have] occurred in the last month,” Meredith said.

“[EV market share] won’t go back to eight per cent, it’s up there in the 20s or 30s now, so the change has occurred.

“My view has always been let the market be the market and the government focus on infrastructure, which they haven’t really done.”

According to the local boss, the money would be far better spent on improving public charging infrastructure, which he sees as a significant pain point, especially with a growing number of EVs on the road. 

“I drive up and down the Hume [Highway] on my way to the Murray River quite often these days and over Easter, lots of EVs on the road, more than I’ve ever seen,” he said.

“But I learned that there were heaps of issues in regards to waiting to power up for two hours – it was a disaster.

“What should have been a seven-hour trip turning into a 10- or 11-hour trip, so that, to me, shows governments have to fix up infrastructure.”

According to Energy Networks Australia, Australia has 68 electric vehicles per public charging point; significantly higher than the global average of 11.

This number is also likely to have increased dramatically with the recent surge in EV sales. Furthermore, just 16 per cent of these public charging points are DC fast chargers.

“If they want to meet their goals in regards to CO2 ... the money that they wasted giving the computer programmer who lives in a nice area in Melbourne or Sydney $3000-4000 at the beginning of this whole exercise, to me, would have been far better going on infrastructure,” Meredith said.

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