Removal of rebates is being blamed for EVs only accounting for 6.5 percent of the market in Q3, down from 8.1 percent
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- Australian car buyers are increasingly turning their back on EVs, new data from the Australian Automobile Association reveals.
- Sales of electric vehicles fell 25 percent from Q2 to Q3, but sales of hybrids grew 3.3 percent and PHEVs by a massive 56 percent.
- The end of rebates for EV buyers is being blamed for the slump, while hybrids still receive financial aid.
Australia has joined the growing band of countries whose car buyers are finding themselves turned off to the idea of splashing out on an EV. Sales of electric cars in the country dropped by 25 percent in the three months to October, new data from the Australian Automobile Association reveals.
EV registrations fell from from 25,353 in Q2 to 18,990 units in Q3, taking battery vehicles’ share of the car market down from 8.1 percent to just 6.6 percent, the lowest it’s been in two years. The overall car market was down by a far less dramatic 7.6 percent in the same period.
Related: EV Sales Drop 10.8% In EU As Buyers Flock To Hybrids
Those EV refuseniks aren’t all jumping back into plain-old combustion cars – petrol sales didn’t fall as badly as EV registrations, but were still down 9.2 percent. Instead, they’re increasingly switching their focus from full electric to partially-electric. Sales of hybrids improved by 3.3 percent in Q3 from 46,727 to 48,282 units, but sales of plug-in-hybrids grew by a shocking 56 percent.
Modern PHEVs now offer such long electric ranges that many buyers find they can cover all of their commuting on battery power, and still have the security of a gas tank and combustion engine. But analysts think the main reason for the switch from EVs to hybrids is a financial one.
Rebates for fully electric cars have been removed everywhere in the country except Western Australia, creating a disincentive for buyers. But PHEVs are still exempt from fringe benefits tax until April 2025, potentially saving drivers thousands of dollars on a lease, the AAA explains.
“There have been significant quarterly fluctuations over the past seven quarters, but sales figures over that period confirm a clear trend of growth for hybrids, while battery electric vehicle market share appears to have peaked for now,” the AAA said.
“In the first half of 2023, battery electric vehicles outsold hybrids, but since then hybrids have outsold battery electric vehicles in five consecutive quarters.”
Source: Australian Automobile Association
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