Anthony Albanese‘s ambitious plan for most Australians to drive fully-electric cars now appears doomed, with sales of one Tesla model plunging more than 80 per cent in a year.
Overall, battery-powered vehicles had just 5.9 per cent of the market share in February, dropping from 9.6 per cent in February 2024.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries figures includes EVs sold by Tesla and Chinese-owned Polestar, using sales data supplied to the Electric Vehicle Council.
They showed Tesla Model 3 purchases fell more than 80 per cent in a year, while sales of the Model Y more than halved ahead of its upcoming update.
Labor’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard came into effect in January with the aim of slashing vehicle emissions by 59 per cent over four years by penalising car manufacturers that relied too heavily on selling petrol, diesel or even hybrid cars.
But FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said Labor’s plan to push EVs had done little to encourage Australians to embrace electric cars.
‘We are now two months into the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, and while the supply of battery electric vehicles has risen dramatically, consumer demand has fallen by 37 per cent this year compared with the first two months of 2024,’ he said.
‘We knew the supply of EVs would increase and there are now 88 models supplied to the Australian market.
Anthony Albanese ‘s ambitious plan for most Australians to drive fully-electric cars now appears doomed, with sales of one Tesla model plunging more than 80 per cent in a year (pictured is a Tesla Model Y)
‘However, our grave concern has always been the rate of EV adoption and what assumptions the government had made in its modeling around consumer demand.
‘This modelling remains secret.’
Not one fully-electric vehicle made it onto the list of Australia’s top ten biggest selling cars in February.
But five models were available as a hybrid including the Toyota RAV4 in first place, the Mitsubishi Outlander in fifth place, the new Chinese-built BYD Shark 6 ute in sixth spot, the Kia Sportage in ninth place and the Hyundai Kona in tenth position.
Tesla’s fully-electric Model Y and Model 3 had regularly appeared on the top 10 sales charts until last year, when Elon Musk’s company joined Polestar in terminating its membership of the FCAI, arguing it favoured makers of petrol and diesel cars.
Separate data from the Electric Vehicle Council showed just 924 Tesla Model Ys were sold in February, less than half the 2,072 figure for February 2024, ahead of the new refreshed model coming out in May.
The Tesla Model 3 managed just 668 sales, only a fifth of the 3,593 sales a year earlier, marking an 81 per cent plunge.
The sharp drop in Tesla sales has also coincided with Musk’s close association with polarising US President Donald Trump, who has tasked him with running the Department of Government Efficiency to shrink the state.
Not one fully-electric vehicle made it onto the list of Australia’s top ten biggest selling cars in February. But five models were available as a hybrid including the new Chinese-built BYD Shark 6 ute in sixth spot
Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard accused the FCAI of campaigning against tougher emissions standards, with his marque selling just 125 units across three models in February.
Sales of the Polestar 2 plunged by more than two-thirds to 36 last month, compared with 112 a year earlier.
‘Efforts to undermine this legislation will only disadvantage Australians,’ Mr Maynard said.
‘This week’s comments from the FCAI are the latest in a campaign to water down long-overdue emissions standards that will deliver Australians cleaner cars and lower running costs.’
The Electric Vehicle Council argues plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, and not just battery-electric cars, should be classified as EVs.
Chief executive Julie Delvecchio said plug-in hybrids and battery-electric vehicles had an 11.3 per cent market share and not 9.6 per cent as the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries argues.
‘Last month, more than 11 percent of recorded new car sales had a plug, much higher than we have seen in previous years,’ she said.
‘Plug-in hybrid vehicles are booming largely thanks to brand new models – including the BYD Shark, Australia’s first PHEV ute.
‘We also know Australians are anticipating new BEV models, including the new Tesla Model Y and a range of exciting new models from China.’
The Mitsubishi Outlander is available as plug-in electric hybrid while the BYD Shark 6 is Australia’s first plug-in hybrid ute to make the top 10, with the equivalent versions of the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux not due until later in 2025.
EV sales could be higher but the emerging Chinese brands have yet to provide their Australian sales figures to either the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries or the Electric Vehicle Council.
Last month, 94,993 Australian vehicles were sold, marking an overall drop of 9.6 per cent compared with the same month in 2024, based on FCAI data.
Sales were weaker despite the Reserve Bank cutting interest rates for the first time since November 2020.
Toyota, which has no fully-electric cars except the Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, was Australia’s best-selling brand with a 20.5 per cent market share in February.
With Tesla absent from the FCAI figures, Korean-owned Kia in fourth place, Hyundai in sixth position, Chinese-owned MG in seventh place, and GWM in eighth place, were the bestselling brand offering electric cars.
BYD, the world’s biggest producer of electric cars, didn’t make the top ten list for brands, despite being an FCAI member.
