One in four new cars is now electric

Australians are buying electric cars like never before. EV sales were up 117.7 per cent year on year in September 2026, to 26,287 units.

That's based on VFACTS figures combined with Tesla and Polestar data from the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC). EVs now make up 24.2 per cent of the new-vehicle market, more than double the roughly 11.3 per cent share they had in September 2025.

EV sales up 117.7 per cent to 26,287 in September
Onw in four new cars sold in Septmeber 2026 was an EV
Electrified vehicles (EV, PHEV and hybrid) account for half of all new car sales
Tesla, BYD, Geely and Zeekr dominate EV sales
Petrol sales down 36.2 per cent, diesel down 18.4 per cent

A year ago, an EV in the top 10 was a Tesla and not much else. In September, three made the cut: the Tesla Model Y (third, 4476 units), BYD Sealion 7 (fifth, 2687 units) and Geely EX5 (eighth, 2008 units).

EV passenger cars were up 230.4 per cent and electric SUVs 170.3 per cent. Even electric light commercials are on the move, up 587.9 per cent, albeit from a tiny base, to 227.

There are various factors at play that are increasing EV sales, including government incentives that make leasing an EV far more affordable on a weekly basis. Another one is geo-political uncertainty, with wars in Ukraine and Iran driving up the price of liquid fuels like petrol and diesel.

Year to date, there have been 180,591 EV sales in Australia including Tesla and Polestar. That's 18.9 per cent of the 957,698-unit market, so September's 24.2 per cent shows the curve is still steepening.

Battery cars aren't the only electrified vehicles booming either.

Plug-in hybrids were up 122.7 per cent to 10,072 and conventional hybrids climbed 20.7 per cent to 17,843, which takes electrified vehicles to 49.8 per cent of the market – roughly half of all new vehicles sold in Septmeber.

Combustion-only cars are paying for it. Petrol sales fell 36.2 per cent to 26,018, and diesel dropped 18.4 per cent to 25,173.

For the first time, more EVs than diesels were sold in Australia in a single month.

Who's winning? Tesla is still king of the EV hill.

The brand delivered 5654 vehicles in September, up 21.3 per cent, and is already past its full-year 2025 tally (41,705 year to date versus 28,856).

The long-wheelbase, three-row Model Y L has been a big help. It made up 1764 of the Model Y's 4476 deliveries in September and 47.8 per cent of Model Y sales over the past three months.

BYD is right behind, with an around 5380 EV sales from the Sealion 7, Atto 2, Atto 1, Atto 3, Dolphin and Seal. Its total sales were 8191, up 61.1 per cent.

The surprise performer is Geely. The EX5 (2008 sales, up 620 per cent) and new EX2 city car (1211 sales) gave the brand just over 3200 EV sales, and its total sales were up 870.3 per cent.

Sister brand Zeekr is fully electric and sold 2050 vehicles, up from 120 a year ago, with the 7X mid-size SUV contributing 1628 sales.

Others are finding their feet. MG's EV range (MG4 Urban, MG4, S5, IM5, IM6 and Cyberster) added up to about 1316 sales. Kia's EV3, EV5 and friends notched up just over 1200 sales. Xpeng posted 615 and GAC's Aion duo 665.

Legacy brands are slowly getting the message. The Toyota bZ4X was up 412.5 per cent to 410, and the new Mazda 6e sedan found 389 buyers.

The brands without a strong EV line-up are going backwards in a hurry. Mitsubishi (down 41.5 per cent), Subaru (down 42.6 per cent) and Suzuki (down 39.3 per cent) all copped a hiding in September.

Polestar remains the odd one out among EV specialists, down 15.3 per cent to 200 deliveries.

Tesla's cheaper rear-drive Model 3 is about to land with a $9000 price cut. There's also a steady flow of sub-$40K Chinese EVs like the Geely EX2 and BYD Atto 1, so the 25 per cent EV share barrier looks set to fall before year's end.

The relevant question may no longer be whether Australians want EVs any more. It's perhaps whether the legacy brands can bring theirs to market fast enough to stop the Chinese newcomers taking customers who want to go EV.

1 Tesla Model Y (4476)
2 BYD Sealion 7 (2687)
3 Geely EX5 (2008)
4 Zeekr 7X (1628)
5 Geely EX2 (1211)
6 Tesla Model 3 (1178)
7 BYD Atto 2 (936)
8 MG MG4 Urban (735)
9 BYD Atto 1 (633)
10 Kia EV3 (564)
11 Xpeng G6 (560)
12 Kia EV5 (509)
13 BYD Atto 3 (460)
14 Zeekr X (417)
15 Toyota bZ4X (410)
16 Mazda 6e (389)
17 GAC Aion UT (384)
18 BYD Dolphin (337)
19 BYD Seal (327)
20 MG MG4 (326)

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