Electric car sales growth in Australia hits the brakes amid Tesla slump in 2024
01/05/2025 06:53 PM
Deliveries of all electric cars except Tesla grew by nearly 30 per cent last year – but a sales slide for the US car giant pulled the total closer to negative territory than ever before.
Annual sales of fully-electric vehicles in Australia have increased by the smallest margin on record, data published today has revealed.
And it is not due to a cooling in demand for all types of battery-only cars, but rather 8000 fewer Tesla deliveries than in 2023 that pulled the entire EV market down to a year-on-year increase of 4.7 per cent – compared to 29 per cent growth for all other EVs.
Data published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) lists 91,292 new electric vehicles as sold in 2024, compared to 87,217 the year prior.
EV sales growth outpaced the broader new-car market – which was up 1.7 per cent year-on-year – but it is a far cry from year-on-year increases of 161 per cent in 2023, 93 per cent in 2022 and about 230 per cent in 2021.
MORE: Australian new-car sales in 2024: Annual record barely broken despite drop in demand
Tesla remains the top seller of electric cars – reporting 38,347 deliveries, or 42 per cent of the total – but it is down 17 per cent year-on-year, despite price cuts of up to $9500.
In contrast, sales of electric cars from all other brands grew by 28.8 per cent – thanks to increased choice and lower prices – to 52,945 vehicles.
The 4.7 per cent increase in electric-car sales is the lowest in at least five years.
Definitive EV sales data prior to 2019 is hard to come by, but it is believed the last year-on-year change of less than a 4.7 per cent increase is a slight decline in 2018.
The US car giant’s share of sales is shrinking amid growing competition, down from 53 per cent last year and 59 per cent in 2022.
Electric cars now account for 7.4 per cent of new passenger, SUV and light-commercial vehicle sales, compared to 7.2 per cent in 2023.
Full details on the country’s top-selling electric cars are due later this week, but the most popular single electric vehicle remains the Tesla Model Y on 21,253 deliveries, down 26.1 per cent year-on-year.
It is followed by the Tesla Model 3 on 17,094 deliveries, down 1.5 per cent.
Models such as the MG 4 (6934 sales, up 121 per cent), BYD Seal (6393 sales, up 1257 per cent) and BYD Atto 3 (5751 sales, down 47.9 per cent) are also among the top sellers.
Sales of hybrids boomed in 2024, with conventional hybrid vehicles up 76 per cent to 172,696 deliveries, while plug-in hybrids were up 100.2 per cent to 23,163 cars amid lucrative tax incentives on PHEVs due to expire in April 2025.
The same tax incentive is available on fully-electric cars, but it is not due to expire until at least 2027.
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