EVs now represent 3.39 per cent
of all vehicle sales, a 65 per cent increase on 2021, according to the Electric
Vehicle Council’s new State of EVs report released today.
The ACT leads the nation on
sales, with 9.5 per cent of all new vehicles sales being EVs. It is followed by
New South Wales (3.7%), Victoria (3.4%), Queensland (3.3%), Tasmania (3.3%),
Western Australia (2.8%), South Australia (2.3%), and the Northern Territory
(0.8%).
The State of EVs report once again grades Australia’s
jurisdictions on their approach to EVs, and while no single government leads on
every policy area, the ACT and NSW lead overall (8/10); followed by federal
(7/10); Queensland (6/10); Victoria (5/10); SA, NT and WA (4/10), and Tasmania
(3/10).
There has been a 22% increase in
fast and ultra-fast charger locations since 2021, with around 350 chargers now
available to the public.
Electric Vehicle Council Head of
Policy Jake Whitehead said while the increased enthusiasm was welcome,
Australia still needed a strong National EV Strategy to catch up to the rest of
the world.
“It’s great to see so much
momentum behind EV sales in Australia, but to put our 3.4 per cent in context –
Germany sits at 26 per cent, the UK at 19 per cent, and California at 13 per
cent. The global average is 8.6 per cent so Australia has a long, long way to
come,” Dr Whitehead said.
“We know from all the
research that Australians are keen to get behind the wheel of an EV, but they
just aren’t getting the access that other markets get. Because our governments
have lagged the world on EV policy, Australia is still something of an
afterthought for global EV manufacturers. So Australian consumers have a smaller
range of EVs to choose from and they are also being forced to wait for many
months or even years to take delivery of new vehicles.
“The good news is the new
federal government understands the opportunities of EVs and is working on a
genuine EV strategy. Although that strategy will need include a range of
measures, high on the list must be fuel efficiency standards.
“If Australia does not
introduce fuel efficiency standards on par with the EU and the US we will
continue to lag the world by a huge margin. Given transport makes up 19 per
cent of Australia’s emissions we also can’t say we’re serious about achieving
our 2030 emission reduction target without fuel efficiency standards.”
Contact: Jake
Whitehead 0430 404 974 / Anil Lambert 0416 426 722
