Image: Riz Akhtar
Electric car sales in Australia have dipped for the second month in a row during August – despite multiple existing EV makers cutting prices across their lineup and introducing multiple new models.
The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) shows that 5,892 battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in August – a share of just 5.9 per cent of the overall new car market.
The data is now split into two sources following the breakaway of Tesla and Polestar from the main car lobby group, the FCAI. It reported 3,434 EV sales from the car makers it represents, while the Electric Vehicle Council revealed 2,458 sales from Tesla and Polestar.
Both brands, however, are sharply down from a year ago, with Model Y sales nearly halving from 2,314 in August last year to 1,300 in August this year, and down from 1,335 in July, although the Model 3 was up to 1,063 from 999 in the same month last year. Polestar 2 sales fell to 62 from 225 a year ago ahead of the release of the Polestar 3 and the Polestar 4.
EV Sales Breakdown – August 2024
| FCAI vFacts | 3,434 |
| EVC (Polestar + Tesla) | 2,458 |
| EV Sales Total (FCAI + EVC) | 5,892 |
| Total Vehicle Sales (FCAI + EVC) | 100,786 |
EV sales have gradually been coming down and August represented the second lowest month of EVs by percentage this year after January, which had 5.5% of EV sales during the month.
While the EV market stagnated, it was another strong month for plug in hybrids, driven by BYD’s new Sealion 06 SUV, which accounted for 1,058 out of 2,644 PHEV sales for the month.
But Tesla and Polestar were not the only car makers to suffer. Interestingly enough, the Model 3 sales alone outsold BYD’s entire EV lineup during the month with Atto 3 (427), Dolphin (165) and Seal (371) accounting for only 963 sales, compared to more than 1,300 in July.
The Seal had its lowest month of sales, hinting at potential demand for the upcoming 2025 BYD Seal which is expected to have faster charging and more technology than the current model.
MG took the fifth spot with its MG4 hatchback getting 309 sales. MG has been cutting prices and improving its warranty offering to keep the momentum of MG4 sales going which would be interesting to observe in the coming months.
The best-selling EVs in August 2024 were:
The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers for sales of some EV models and this list will be updated once they’re received. These include numbers for the ZS EV, Kona Electric and more.
FCAI CEO Tony Weber said in a statement that hybrid sales were up 44.9 per cent on August 2023, and sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles more than doubled.
‘However, in line with the experience in many global markets, sales of battery electric vehicles are disappointing,” he said.
“This is despite the supply of battery electric vehicles increasing significantly with more brands and EV models having entered the Australian market.”
With EV uptake seeing a short-term slump, the manufacturers will need to do all they can to keep their EVs fresh and attractive to new buyers. This includes the new manufacturers who very well could reset the growth trajectory and help decarbonise Australia sooner.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.
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.
Xpeng's first model in Australia ticks quite a few boxes for electric SUV buyers while…
Fully Charged's Robert Llewellyn on Chinese EVs that make a lot of beeping noises, Elon…
Polestar says it has achieved some of its "highest order" days after offering big lease…
Demonstrators gathered at more than 50 Tesla showrooms across the US over the weekend, part…
Xpeng's G6 receives a facelift, packed with new features and technology to entice buyers in…
Deepal, to expand its local line up of vehicles with two new models, an affordable…
View Comments
Two words: charging network
Most of the charging for city based drivers will be done at home.
Now charging network is an issue for those that do long trips regularly. However, most daily car trips less than 40. Really not an issue
Really is an issue for Rural people who drive 100s of kms just for Medical.
It's easy to get an EV with 500km range. That's plenty to get to the Dr.
It's a very big issue. Very trip particular inland is a gamble. Most locations are single unreliable 50kW only chargers. That means even if they are available and working you waste time due to their small capacity. All this was ok in the pioneering days 5 years ago but now days simply not acceptable.
The pioneering days. 5 years ago.
Wow!
The early development of railways was effectively stopped for forty years by morons who claimed that the idea was impossible.
Solar panel technology was discovered 100 years ago.
You're just moaning about running out of gummy bears.
EVs accounted for 5.9 per cent of the overall new car market. I wonder if this is the low with all subsequent months improving month on month.
BYD Atto 3 sales are down on last month despite the recent refreshed model. Interesting.
Are people awaiting the Sealion 7 and Xpeng G6 ?
Let's hope not mate the Chinese have not supplied a vehicle yet which is up to industry standards never mind lack of spares and repair costs which is why Hertz sold their EVs out of their fleet,
Which standards are not being met?
Have a look at J D Powers website.
This company surveys all owners on reliability build quality and customer satisfaction then rates the manufacturers in order.
The Chinese don't even rate as yet
This is because JD Powers is US company, and they do not sell Chinese cars in US because of 100% tariffs.
Hertz didn't use Chinese made EVs in USA.
Correct but they almost cost Hertz their business with huge repairs after accidents client not wanting them reliability issues plus the huge devaluation in their fleets value because retained value tanked and they had to get out quickly .
Oh in Europe now most ports are clogged with Chinese EV'S that cannot find a buyer hence huge discounts trying to move them plus the 28% government tariffs applied and the effect on ports efficiency .
I have been there and seen it in person. Now Australia will have to handle Chinese overproduction and dumping just as demand is slumping for EVs.
What are the reliability issues Wayne? You've got some stats on that, I presume - showing that EVs are less reliable than ICE cars?
Hertz purchased their fleet just before a major re-adjustment in price for Teslas. That is just bad timing so the depreciation would have taken a hit there. Staff didn't go out of their way to help their customers who were new to EVs resulting in more accidents than usual.
There are a lot of Chinese EVs dumped (or delivered) around the world without buyers lined up although not sure how it is here.
The Xpeng g6 looks good. Also hoping Nio will get here next year.
Price of petrol is low compared to previous years, and the upfront EV prices are still high (eg. Hyundai Tuscon ICE @45k versus Ioniq 5 @75k).
Hopefully prices come down next year with the efficiency standards introduction and reduced battery costs driven by China, as that's when I'll likely be upgrading my ICE to an EV..
reduced battery prices have been driven by the reduction in battery raw materials, namely lithium.
Lithium Carbonate (CNY/T) prices: Nov 2022 600,000 and now Sep 2024 75,000
Nickel (USD/T) prices: Mar 2022 48,700 and now Sep 2024 16,500
Manganese (CNY/mtu) only 10% higher than Mar 2024
source: https://tradingeconomics.com/commodity/lithium
Efficiencies in battery manufacturing and competition has also brought prices down as has competition with EV brands on the market. More lithium has been mined and brought to market pushing down the prices and forecasted EV demand a few years hasn't eventuated as predicted with high inflation and interest rates that weren't anticipated at the time.
Interesting that Hyundai / Kia have recently put the prices of EVs up here in Australia.
So now you know why Tesla, BYD and others have been reducing the prices of their EVs, they are passing on the savings with some chasing market share, what's your excuse Hyundai?
LFP and sleep soundly.......the rest is stress.
Market share is important and EV's are not the choice most people are making. However, see this figure in light of the fact that car sales overall are down 8.3% on this month last year, and so most marques are seeing year on year reductions.
Toyota sales are still holding up, but is this still due to the old post covid demand bulge or do people really thing their hybrids are self-charging!?
Agreed Toyota have an enormous backlog of orders to fill. Definitely inflating their sales
Covid shut down was early 2020, 4.5 years ago. Had Toyota built more factories then there wouldn't be this huge imbalance. They are using this tactic of undersupplying to justify that EVs are not the way forward and to artificially keeping the price of their ICE vehicles high. Make as much profit now as they will stuggling to survive when more countries ban ICE. They no longer sell anything in the worlds biggest market - China, unless its through a joint venture where they are sticking a Toyota badge on a Chinese EV.
I'd call that an example of false equivalence.
The average punter has heard about the horrendous loss of retained value at trade in time .Add this to to lack of spare parts and the ridiculous cost of repairs(3 times ) over other vehicles and the withdrawal of the budget sapping EV subsidies from most states earlier then expected and the immediate future looks dim.
I believe Joe public is awaiting the next iteration of dual fuel vehicles, which is the most efficient way to go with the quality levels that China cannot supply,?
Wayne, if you generally interested in EVs and EV ownership then please ask questions, there are a lot of experience readers here. Otherwise take your rant based on misunderstood information elsewhere please. You are just embarrassing yourself.
Cam
I am a fleet manager for national distributing corporate transport logistics .
People waiting for promise of new battery technology holding up new sales?
There are also 10+ new models that about to start sales by end of this year or Q1 25. like KIA EV5, BYD Sealion 7, Smart #1,#3, VW ID4/ID5, VW Buzz, Xpeng G6, Zeekr X, etc
I won’t be buying an EV until vehicle to grid capability is a thing.
Consistent with Hype Cycle Theory
The early adopters have bought their EV. Now there will be a bit of a slowdown and gap as the early majority gets on board.Probably time to get out and have a look around. There will be some bargains out there!
We early majority won't get "on board" until EV batteries are lightweight, will charge to full capacity within 5 mins (i.e the same time to fill up with petrol) , and are replaceable - plug & play, such that future owners are not saddled forever with a dud battery. Until then, we'll keep buying ICEs.
You probably already spend much longer filling an ICE than EV owners spend charging their EVs.
Most EV owners plug in at home and unplug next time they need the car. Very occasionally they might have to use a public charger
Enjoy your many years ahead of paying far more to run your vehicle than you need to - plus it being slow, worse handling and far more prone to break down.
2014 Mazda 3, never missed a beat in the last 10 years. $350-$500 servicing pa. Happy days. Admittedly I only do 8,000km pa, so the fuel/EV costs difference may not be significant for me. For EVs, I'm genuinely concerned about battery replacements with an accident, as I'm hearing stories of $20K to replace a battery, hence high comprehensive insurance premiums. If you could allay my concerns on these, then I may be more tempted.
Maybe some battery swap evs will come here soon.
My premiums are the same as an equivalent price ICE. Even if they were 20% higher, that is a tiny cost compared to the fuel and maintenance savings. My car's servicing is entirely free for the first five years, and the EV I had before that cost $220 every two years to service. I agree if you only do 8,000kms a year the best thing you can do for the planet is keep your current car well maintained and keep it going. But when you do eventually get a new car, an EV hatchback over a 10-15 year lifetime will be by far the cheapest, fastest, best driving option.
That means 5892 extra people now drive an EV. Along with all those already driving one. No turning back now.
ha ha Robert. Unlikely.... see my comments above. EVs have stalled and they won't pickup until my criteria above is met. Mark my words!