Image: Riz Akhtar
The uptake of electric vehicles in Australia has passed another milestone in the first nine months of the year, with more 65,000 new pure battery electric cars sold in the year to date.
New data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) V-Facts shows the car industry enjoyed a bumper month in September, with a total of 110,702 new car sales, a jump of 18 per cent from the same month a year ago.
EVs grabbed an eight per cent share of the new car market with a total of 8,821, a jump of 21 per cent over the year ago figure. With plug in hybrid and hybrid sales, the “electrified” market grabbed an 18.3 per cent share.
Tesla once again led the charge with the Model Y outselling every other battery electric model in the market, and all other passenger cars on the market, be they diesel or petrol.
It sold 3,811 units in the month, trailing only the Ford ranger and Toyota Hilux utes. The Model Y sales to date for 2023 are 23,457, giving it a total of 28,833 since its launch in the middle of last year.
The Tesla Model 3 continued its comeback with 1,366 sales in the month, taking its total for the year to 14,540. Third place was once again taken by the BYD Atto 3, with 702 sales for the month and 8,706 for the year to date. BYD is soon to begin deliveries of the more affordable Dolphin electric hatchback models.
Speaking of affordable electric hatchbacks, MG had a bumper second month of its MG4 deliveries with 645 sales in September. This is more than double what was sold in August when 296 vehicles were sold.
“Our advice is that the supply of vehicles into Australia, including electric vehicles, continues to improve so those consumers who want to buy a new vehicle should visit a dealer or manufacturer,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber said in a statement.
The best-selling EVs in September were:
The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers for sales of some EV models. The article will be updated once they have been received.
Tesla sales in the coming months will be interesting to watch with a new 2024 Tesla Model 3 deliveries expected to start in the first quarter of 2024.
Regardless, Model Y sales remain strong and will help Tesla get close to an expected 45,000 sales in the market this year. This will mean, the leading EV brand will have more than double the sale in 2023 than it did last year.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
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