Tesla and EV communities drive big lift in WA electric car sales

Western Australia’s EV uptake has shifted gears in 2022, with electric vehiucle market leader Tesla seeing a significant increase, even without any EV subsidies being offered to EV buyers.

New data from carloop reveals that WA saw it’s Tesla uptake more than double over the first quarter of 2022 when compared to the same time last year. That’s in spite of recent increase in the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

2022 Q1 Tesla Uptake in WA up by 129%

WA saw a sharp increase in Tesla EVs with 405 ending up on the road in the first 3 months of 2022. This results in 129% growth in Tesla uptake for the quarter compared to the same time in 2021.

The Driven understands that the Tesla uptake would have been even higher in WA but for delivery delays.

Several Tesla owners awaiting deliveries in Q1 2022 were told that their deliveries were pushed back due to transportation issues caused by the floods on the East Coast in March. These customers will be receiving their Tesla EVs in April instead.

EV Subsidy not behind high Uptake in WA

Unlike most other states and Territories across Australia, WA’s Electric Vehicle Strategy does not include any subsidies that would contribute to this sharp rise in Tesla uptake.

The price of Tesla Model 3 did come down in the second half of 2021 which saw higher orders in Q4 resulting in deliveries in Q1 2022. Further breakdown of 2022 shows that 349 Tesla EVs were delivered to WA owners in March 2022 alone.

Tesla and EV Communities rallying behind WA EV Uptake

Even with the lack of EV subsidies in WA, one major factor that did play a big role in getting more Teslas on WA roads were the EV communities organising community EV awareness events.

Events like those being organised by the Tesla Community in Western Australia and AEVA showcases the work being done by the WA EV & Tesla communities to increase uptake.

As we know, once you have experienced an EV and have spoken to real owners, it’s hard to go back to ICE cars especially with the recent high fuel prices.

WA Tesla Q2 Predictions

As we touched on earlier, Q2 will have deliveries to WA Tesla customers who were anticipating their cars in March 2022 which will now be delivered in April. This along with the regular deliveries for the quarter will show this growth trend continue in WA.

carloop predicts over 720 new Tesla customers receiving their cars in Q2, up from 405 in Q1 2022. This would be a 104% rise on the same time in 2021 where 354 new Teslas were delivered to WA customers.

All in all with this sort of rise in EV uptake, Tesla continues to be the number 1 EV brand in WA and across Australia.