Electrical automobile gross sales have greater than doubled in Australia over the previous 12 months as shoppers and authorities insurance policies carry out a U-turn on zero-emissions transport expertise.
However some states and territories are performing considerably higher than others, a report from the Electrical Car Council has discovered.
It needs the federal authorities to set a robust customary to encourage automakers to deliver extra automobile choices to Australia.
The report card arrives months after the federal government launched the Nationwide Electrical Car Technique and pledged to unveil a fuel-efficiency customary earlier than the tip of the 12 months.
The State of Electrical Autos report for July, launched on Monday, discovered gross sales of battery-powered vehicles soared by 121 per cent over the previous 12 months, with extra EVs bought within the first six months of 2023 than all through all of 2022.
About 130,000 electrical automobiles had been being pushed on Australian roads by July, the report discovered, with the nation on observe to haven virtually 180,000 in use by the tip of the 12 months.
Three fashions dominate the market, with Tesla’s Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3, plus BYD’s Atto 3 making up 68 per cent of gross sales.
Electrical Car Council chief govt Behyad Jafari stated the gross sales soar confirmed Australians “now know the way forward for driving is electrical,” however potential consumers had been nonetheless being held again by a small vary and fewer inventory.
“Whereas Australians have some high-quality choices to select from, it’s no shock that the fashions that had been probably the most accessible had the best gross sales,” he stated.
“World automobile makers are nonetheless solely sending a trickle of the automobiles they produce to the Australian market as a result of we stay one of many few nations on Earth with out new automobile effectivity requirements.”
Jafari stated the shortage of provide could possibly be addressed if the federal authorities launched a “globally aggressive” customary tohelp manufacturers safe better automobile allocations for the nation.
Regardless of the gross sales enhance, the report discovered Australia was nonetheless lagging different nations within the electrification race, together with Canada, New Zealand and Singapore, along with market leaders Sweden and Norway.
Some states and territories had been a lot additional forward than others, with the ACT and NSW main the nation and scoring 9 out of 10 within the report for his or her electrical automobile insurance policies.
The Northern Territory and Tasmania tied for final place, with low marks for automobile gross sales, information and trade initiatives, whereas Victoria scored solely a bit of higher, with 5 out of 10 after cancelling its automobile rebate early and charging EV drivers to make use of roads.
“There’s actually encouraging momentum throughout most of Australia on EV coverage however our report additionally finds there may be considerable room for enchancment,” Jafari stated.
AAP