World EV Day 2025: Do Aussies care?

OPINION

World EV Day is about more than just virtue signalling and hashtags – it’s about measuring progress.

A quick look at the sales numbers of EVs in Australia show that electric vehicle demand has come off the boil.

But globally, EVs are surging (pun intended).

Zoom in on the Aussie new car market and many questions arise – is something different happening here, is there an element of apathy towards EVs that doesn’t seem to exist in many other mature car markets?

While the hot take might be that electric car sales have slowed in Australia, the reality is a little more complex: Aussies are still buying into electrification, only now they’re hedging their bets across EVs, hybrids and plug-in hybrids.

And when we look at 2025 it's a more nuanced story than a simple headline about electric sales being ‘down’… which they most certainly are in Australia.

The cold hard numbers are sobering – there’s no getting away from that. EV sales were down by 5.7 per cent between January and July 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.

The EV market has plateaued after a period of breakneck growth, as incentives soften and other factors continue to bite. Consumer caution around EVs in Australia is one of them but the real story is happening in the hybrid space.

Plug-in hybrids have soared around 183 per cent this year, with nearly 30,000 sold to the end of July, the latest stats when this story was compiled.

Conventional hybrids lead by the Toyota RAV4 are up almost 12 per cent, topping 111,000 units.

Put together, that’s more than 140,000 hybrid vehicles, rising to around 194,000 units when you factor in 54,000 EVs on Australian roads already in 2025 between January and July.

So, the reality is that more than one in four new cars sold in Australia has some sort of electrification.

Proof that drivers are warming to lower-emission motoring? It would seem so.

It’s certainly evident there’s big interest in hybrids even if buyers are not yet ready to go full battery-electric.

Look beyond Australia’s beachy borders and electric vehicle sales are far more dynamic.

In the first half of 2025, 9.1 million EVs were sold globally, up by a considerable 28 per cent on the same period last year. Some analysts are predicting EVs will account for one in four new vehicle sales globally by the end of 2025.

China is leading with 5.5 million EV sales for the first half of the year (+32%), Europe followed with 2 million (+26%) and the “Rest of World” markets – where adoption is only just beginning to bite – surged 40 per cent.

So, what’s the go Down Under - do Aussies even care about EVs?

Australians grew up and evolved with V8 Falcons and Commodores – big, comfortable and often soul-stirring cars, the latter something that few EVs offer. Is that keeping some traditionalists away? Not so much.

In fact, boomers are more likely to buy an EV than Gen Z – chiefly due to price.

Based on carsales’ latest EV consumer report – which surveyed almost 3000 Aussies – more than 40 per cent of all respondents said a strong emotional connection to conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles was stopping them buying an EV.

That’s like saying “vapes are cool but I’m sticking with the ciggies, mate”.

And how’s this – the results of the survey reveal that Gen Z feels a stronger pull toward petrol cars. They’re hooked on the noise, the culture and the way they tie into personal identity.

It’s an emotional connection EVs just aren’t sparking yet – at least not in the same way (the Hyundai IONIQ 5 N an exception to that rule).

While the latest EV consumer report shows that price is the main barrier to electric vehicle adoption, other big factors cited by respondents included too few charging stations and also the time required to charge an EV battery.

For all that, EV consideration among all demographics in Australia has collectively risen for the first time in three years, according to the survey data. This represents a major reversal in consumer sentiment not seen for a long time.

Will we see EV sales pick up across the second half of 2025? Only the fickle hand of fate knows for sure.

But we do know this: consumer confidence is up, EV prices are dropping and countless new Chinese brands are offering big bonuses – like free wall box chargers and public fast charging credits – that may fill the void left by the windup of government incentives.

So this World EV Day, the message is clear: the road to electrification isn’t linear, and it isn’t only about pure EVs. It’s about choice.

EV growth has stabilised, hybrids are booming and PHEVs are now a firm stepping stone. Australians are buying into electrification in record numbers, even if it doesn’t always look like it on the surface.

If global momentum and buyer sentiment is anything to go by, EVs are likely to find more favour among Aussie buyers and it certainly feels like the conversation has now shifted from “if” Australians will go electric, to “how” they’ll choose to plug in.

Happy EV day ya flamin’ mongrels!

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