“Best month ever:” EV sales take off as interest in going electric surges

Electric vehicles have had their best month ever in Australia, with new auto industry sales data revealing that new pure battery-electric car sales accounted for 2.5% of the market in March.

That might not seem huge in global terms, with Norway at 86 per cent and most European countries well into their teens, if not higher, it is a sign of progress in Australia.

The news came as Tesla released, for the first time, its official quarterly data to the national Vfacts figures. And it was this, along with other sales data, that confirmed the growing interest in the big switch to electric cars.

In calendar 2021, battery-electric sales reached 1.6% of the entire auto market, with 70% of the 17,293 BEV sales consisting of the Tesla Model 3.

In the first quarter of that year, EV sales totalled approximately 3,250 units, which included some educated guesswork on Tesla shipping data collated by The Driven. In all that equalled a little more than 1.2% of entire market sales for the period.

Fast forward to 2022, and the latest official figures show that 6,752 BEVs were sold in the quarter, meaning that EV sales have more than doubled, even as many carmakers have reported difficulties securing enough inventory to meet demand.

The winner across the board is once again Tesla, which sold 4,417 Model 3 sedans in the quarter and accounted for two thirds of the total. It is the only model that Tesla has sold in Australia this year, with the Model Y still not available (but possibly about to emerge soon).

As for other cars, it is important to note that Vfacts does not differentiate sales by drivetrain unless the model has a different name, The Driven has reached out to carmaker for figures and has not yet received updated data from Volvo.

The data for the quarter shows that Tesla’s Model 3 is selling 12 times more than its closest rival, with the Mercedes EQA (318), the MG ZS EV (306), and the refreshed Hyundai Kona (304) jostling for second price.

A spokesperson for Hyundai described it as its “best month ever” for EV sales, with 463 pure electric sales to date, (plus one FCEV in the form of the Nexo). That makes it the second best-selling brand in EV market, and includes 75 of the Ioniq EV fastbacks and 57 of the new and multi award winning Ioniq 5s (the latter of which is a doubling of sales from the previous month.)

The Kia EV6 nabbed the #5 spot, with 92 units sold in March – almost three times as many as in February. Including the e-Niro, Kia has sold 220 electric vehicles so far in 2022.

In March, Porsche sold 75 Taycans (160 year-to-date), and Nissan has sold 82 Leafs (119 year-to-date). Mini sold 19 all-electric Cooper SE hatches in March (45 year-to-date).

Newcomers to the EV list this month include the Polestar 2 and the BMW i4, with the former selling (or rather delivering) 115 units to customers. BMW sold 40 i4s in its first month, and 29 iX SUVs.

Note, the table below includes Tesla as a quarterly figure, in March.

Bridie Schmidt

Bridie Schmidt is associate editor for The Driven, sister site of Renew Economy. She has been writing about electric vehicles since 2018, and has a keen interest in the role that zero-emissions transport has to play in sustainability. She has participated in podcasts such as Download This Show with Marc Fennell and Shirtloads of Science with Karl Kruszelnicki and is co-organiser of the Northern Rivers Electric Vehicle Forum. Bridie also owns a Tesla Model Y and has it available for hire on evee.com.au.