The most generous electric vehicle (EV) rebate in the country is over, as Queensland shuts down its program from midnight on Monday, leaving just two states –Â Tasmania and Western Australia – as the last to offer any rebates on EVs.
The Queensland rebate started out at $3,000, but in mid 2023 morphed into the country’s most generous offer of up to $6000 for households earning up to $180,000 a year, and for cars priced up to $68,000.
It was supposed to run for three years, but will close on Monday after just two years, after “over 10,000” Queenslanders took up the offer.Â
EVs now make up 1 per cent of the total car fleet in the state with 46,000 vehicles registered, compared to 0.2 per cent in 2022 when Queensland only had 9,100 EVs registered.Â
The government says the change is justified, given the significant decreases in the price of new cars with the price of popular models dropping from between as much as 10- 30 percent since the end of 2023.Â
Even though the supply of cheaper EVs to Australia has rocketed in the last year, the Queensland government credits its scheme with a doubling of models on offer to drivers in the state.
The state is still aiming for half of all new car sales by 2030 to be electric, although government data shows it reached 8.5 per cent in the year to June.Â
“The success of the scheme demonstrates Queensland Government’s commitment towards encouraging cleaner, greener transport modes and supporting the transition to EVs,” said Transport and Main Roads minister Bart Mellish.
“Queensland led the nation in supporting the purchase of new electric vehicles, and… was successful in driving electric vehicle uptake in Queensland, with a fourfold increase in EV cars registered since the start of the scheme two years ago.”
Queensland follows other states into investing in public fast EV charging infrastructure, and offering lower registration fees and duties as incentives to shift electric.Â
However, subsidies may shift some people into an EV but they aren’t the only motivator for making the switch, if stats from the first half of the year are an indication.Â
The highest penetration of EVs in the first half of 2024 was in ACT, where 21.7 per cent of cars sold were electric, according to data from FCAI and the EV Council.
It was followed by New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland at 8.1 per cent, Victoria and Western Australia at 7.5 per cent, South Australia at 7 per cent, Tasmania at 6.7 per cent and the Northern Territory at 3.1 per cent.
NSW, Victoria and South Australia have ended their rebates. Tasmania still offers a rebate of $2,000 and W.A. $3,500.
Rachel Williamson is a science and business journalist, who focuses on climate change-related health and environmental issues.
A Sad day for Queensland future EV owners.
not really. there are other, more economically efficient ways to support EV owners. e.g. expanded charging networks, registration tarriff changes…
Do all three.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Why do ev owners expect the tax payer to pay for your car.
Pay your own registration
We are driving EV for your benefit, you get to have clean air less noise, it’s good for the Australian economy. Thank you for your contribution.
We do Tom, and we are taxpayers also.
We have to pay tax (GST) on charging on those few occasions when we pay for charging. That is hundreds of dollars over the life of the vehicle. Ohh, and if my EV ever needs a service i will have to pay GST on that as well.
Indeed it is.
Meanwhile the US Govt continues with its US$7500 rebate (AU$11,065) under the IRA for most EVs, with some states adding substantial US$ amounts to make that rebate more attractive.
And… they are constructing an extra 100 chargers every day.
Makes the rebates here seem rather small.
Perhaps we should commence a pollution tax for ICE vehicles to fund more EV incentives.
We need urgent decisive action on climate change & tackle the problem on all fronts.
I hope it’s not too late, but perhaps I’m far too hopeful.
It should be good for resale values in Queensland. Not that I’m selling mine anytime soon. I’m preaching to the converted when I say I’ll never go back to an ICE clunker.
If you think about the ownership savings that those with a garage/carport/off-street parking can plan on – it’s a bit hard to complain about not being a welfare recipient when you can contemplate such an outlay.
Yes, was a good deal & painless to progress. I’d used this on my previous EV. Kudos to the Qld govt, this grant has now simply run out. They were last to the table, but likely the best.
It was due to happen, and it might as well be closed by the government who introduced it, rather than by the incoming government who replaced them. Purchase rebates in Australia were too late to have made a huge difference, but in any case they’ve served their purpose.
Electric motorcycles on the other hand are still very expensive for what they are, and could use a bit of a hand.
Electric motorcycles most certainly could use help in Queensland. Most affordable models have a range under 100km, however in rural areas there are very few working chargers. The only saving point is that, unlike EV cars, you can often remove a motorcycle battery to recharge it, even if you have no charger in a garage space.
Electric bicycles are actually the way to go in terms of where a subsidy would be best spent. Their uptake is growing already, but good ones are still multi-thousands and e-bikes bring much more benefits than ev cars.
Absolutely disgusting the green led government wasting taxpayers money on these sardine tins from China,
Their resale will now decrease even. More,
I’d rather have a sardine tin than the Tanks some people are buying.
Oh, so you were yet to test drive one huh?
When you do, you will understand what all the fuss is about!
so what sardine tin do you drive?
Oh, look, another EV hater retardobot. Seem to be getting a few of these now, maybe they all got kicked off of facebook or something.
Why do ev owners want tax payers money to help pay for their car, registration, charging.
I do not my tax to go to ev rich owners I want it to go to schools and hospitals
I think you’d prefer to see the huge subsidies for fossil fuels continue instead, amirite?
Tom so you would like to see the scrapping of Australian Federal and state governments spending and tax breaks to assist fossil fuel industries? 22/23 $11.1 billion worth which also affect your tax dollars!
You’re obviously not up to date with the Chinese offerings, mate. And who do you think make most European name brands…
The EVs imported from China are 5-star NCAP rated. I bet that the car you are driving won’t meet those 2023 / 2024 standards. So that makes them safer in avoiding accidents and if they are in accidents. Although i didn’t realize that the government is purchasing these cars for us. Explains how that works please.
it has happened here in NZ already, and at the end of the day the market has to respond as it has done. The main put off here is the feeling that people cannot travel at will with an ev, this will change of course because we have been used to petrol stations since who knows when.
Tax payer could not afford it, the money is better spent on schools and hospitals.
and submarines Tom. You forgot to mention the submarines. The nuclear submarines. But I agree with you about the schools and hospitals.
We need schools to teach us the benefits of nuclear power, and the hospitals to tidy up the unfortunate by products.
The $6,000 rebate was always unsustainable. Giving a rebate to just 10,000 residents and then flaming out is just not good EV policy.
Well at least the generous QLD first home buyer grants are still here to prop up the bloated housing market. The pollies know what is sacrosanct in this country! 😂
The Howard govt adopted the first home buyers grant as a way of attracting Labour voters, successfully turning them into little capitalists. Ditto the Telstra sell off.
When was this announced? I checked the website just before placing an order for a Model 3, but have not yet paid the final invoice. The website says it was updated on 2nd September and ends 2nd September. I’m feeling very cheated.
Numpties. It ought to have been 6K at the start and 3k for longer as EVs get cheaper then cessation ought to have been known well in advance.
3 strikes your out.
You just wait till all those cheap made Chinese batteries start blowing up your house’s
The most generous scheme is the FBT exemption. For a person earning 250k+, you can get 47% of a lease back on tax. That can include the EV lease, insurance, rego, service and changing. It’s huge.