Electric vehicle sales rebound in September on the back of intense price wars

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• Riz,

  EV = BEV + PHEV or plug in Evs

  • Be good if there was a Driven PHEV website. PHEVs are a stepping stone, but an important one. BYD are doing very well with their Sealion 6, but hard to guess from this site.

    • It's time to take the training wheels off. Most people don't need a PHEV.

      • Personally I agree with you, but the Market says different, with PHEV sales up 90% YOY and BEV sales down 27%. PHEV used to be a tiny fraction of BEV sales now it's over 1/3rd. I haven't checked yet but I believe BYD have sold about 1,000 Sealion 6 this month alone. That's M3 sales territory.
        That is the reality, Not as you'd like it to be, but as it is. Many people like to take baby steps not giant steps, it's just a fact. PHEVs provide this pathway.
        Another thing is PHEV Utes, which I think will dwarf pure BEV utes for at least the next 2-3 years because they are just more practical.
        So this should be covered. But I see no outlet giving any credence to PHEVs beyond an occasional article in Car Expert or very occasionally here.

      • We have one EV and one diesel tow vehicle (for caravan). I do not see any EV being capable of towing our caravan up to the Flinders comfortably - so here a PHEV could work for us. Drive in EV mode most of the time (locally) and use the on-board generator when towing. Simples.

      • Most people do not need a ev

    • PHEVs were a great idea a decade ago when batteries were much more expensive per kWh, energy density was not so good so range was limited and we didn't have fast DC chargers at every service centre on major highways. Now they are a solution to a problem we no longer have.

      • Since when did we have fast chargers at every service centre on major highways? Are you posting from Norway?

        • Why do fast chargers need to be at service centres?

      • 'PHEVs were a great idea when... we didn’t have fast DC chargers at every service centre on major highways.'

        We have fast DC chargers at every service centre on major highways now?

        • I think that statement is now true for the Hume. But only for the Hume.

      • My main issue with PHEVs is the batteries are too small and you can't fast charge them. BYD seem to be working on this issue.

    • The interesting thing about BYD's approach to PHEV is that primarily the car is a driven by a battery powered electric motor.
      The petrol engine runs in generator mode to charge the battery.
      People are largely driver an "ordinary EV"
      It is a more significant step than driving a Prious Hybrid

      • • charge the battery only when required....

      • Yep so I heard. So no transmission tunnel necessary. It's a good idea.

  • In my book, if a vehicle has a tailpipe, then it ain’t an EV. No matter what lipstick you put on it.

• “Recorded sales of battery electric vehicles are again disappointing this month,” I hope we keep up this "disappointing" trend of increasing EV sales! With the recent price cuts and new cheaper EV models coming to Australia that's likely to happen!

  • Something this article neglects to mention is that there were 8821 BEV sales last September compared to 6422 this year.

    • Monthly sales numbers are much more variable so I wouldn't focus on them. This article does mention the more reliable YTD figures of 65,753 for 2023 to end of Sept and the higher 69,962 so far in 2024. So total sales are higher so far this year but by less than 10% so fairly slow growth this year over last so far.

  • Sell your soul to the Chinese government that has given their ev companies 357 billion in subsidiaries

    • "Sell your soul" People buy cars from the world over. What are you even talking about? Did you buy a TV, phone, shirt or hat from China? Almost certainly.
      In case you've forgotten, we don't make cars in Australia anymore. That would be the only reason, and only slightly, for saying anything about others choices.

• Important for the trio of accessibly priced EVs - Dolphin, Ora and MG4 - to dwell in that mid to low 30k price bracket over 2025 while the general public and charging network catches up.
  Once there is general public acceptance that this represents a good deal and there are charges everywhere, shopping centres, car parks, etc, plus major highways, even if you have no home charging capability, then there will be that sea change to mass adoption.

• Is there data available on monthly sales of second hand EVs? Surely it is time that was reported. And while I'm not a fan of PHEVs for a lot of reasons, I'd like to get some idea of the trend there as well. And ideally manufacturer or other data on the rate of actual plugging in of PHEVs.

  • The AADA’s Automotive Insight Report has used sales data.

  • Norway gives us a glimpse of the post-PHEV world. In September, 1.1% of new car sales were PHEVs.

    • Not that comparable though. Norway has had a long term plan for decades.
      Australia, not so much

    • Unfair comparison.
      Norway, with about the same population as Sydney, is a world leader on many fronts. Only one of them has a dense population.

• Good to see more P2s being sold. By far the best looking EV on the road.
  MG4 moves into 3rd spot. October's MG4 sales numbers should be interesting.

• One can only hope that the Sealion 6 is doing so well because customers want a blimp of a car, rather than the fact that it's a plugin hybrid. I guess we'll find out when the 7 arrives.

  • BYD Sealion 6 is absolutely smashing it.
    1,111 sales in September.
    They are beating the overpriced Mitsubishi outlander PHEVs entire year of sales in just 4 months.
    Car Expert seems to be about the best website for PHEV news.

• The rolling Genocide and aggression in the Middle East at the moment will lead to higher oil prices despite demand cooling a little.

  That should give a boost to EV sales.

  • It would be nice if something good could come out of it.

  • All that's needed is conflict to break out in the South China Sea and all oil supplies from Singapore cut for Australia to go 100% BEV sales

  • What do you mean "despite"?
    Surely you mean 'because of'

• One problem contributing to lack luster EV sales growth may well be the recent period of price cuts. Potential buyers contemplating buying an EV have found that the longer they procrastinate about buying, the cheaper their preferred model has become. Economists have long described this as a feature of deflationary markets.

  • True but there's a floor and we're getting closer to it. The price can't be lowered below the cost of production or the company goes bankrupt. That said, if EV prices stabilise around the high 20-30k for urban runarounds, and SUV and sedans like M3, MY, Atto3, Seal, XPeng G6, Zeekr09 etc etc move into 40s/high 40s then there is direct competition with not just higher spec ICE but all ICE.
    If XPeng bring the Mona01 here for 29k that will blow up.
    What's needed is prices stabilised at parity with ICE (or just below) and mass rollout of charging infrastructure.
    Then 6% will become 16%, then 25% then 60%, with the rest HEVs and PHEVs.

    • I agree, prices will stabilize, and the impact of a period of falling prices will be short-lived. The point remains that the effect of the deflationary period helps interpret what we have all observed as a slow-down in the rate of EV market growth.

• You know the worst thing about EV’s? Any discussion has turned in to a culture war. I no longer tell people I own an EV, just to avoid the inevitable FUD rubbish they have read. All I want now is to just enjoy driving my EV, not have to justify it to anyone and not turn it in to a “one side is wrong” argument.

  • Take your friends for a ride and let them have a drive. Less talk, more experience will count the FUD

    • It’s not normally friends, but just people you bump in to. I guess what I am trying to say is I am over having to justify my choice to drive an EV. When I meet a guy at a party who drives a Ford Ranger, I don’t feel compelled to ask him about it, I just figure it is their choice and if it suits them fine. But that doesn’t seem to work with EV’s. People assume you are virtue signaling, trying to save the world, anti ICE vehicles. Where in reality it’s just me making a choice that suits me.

      • Just ignore them. I bought a Toyota hybrid 9 years ago when they were associated with lentil shoe wearing Greenies. Whenever I got tyres changed I got the usual teasing about trying to save the world from the diesel only guys. Now they are the norm. Same will happen with BEVs. Enjoy the driving.

• Sales YTD are still below what was expected at the start of the year. It's a miniscule bounce but hopefully the floor has been hit and sales will ramp again. I recommend reading NRMA Insurance report based on a pretty good size survey and assessment of where we are at in the transition at this crucial point. https://www.nrma.com.au/car-insurance/ev-report-changing-gears#:~:text=Our%20report,%20Changing%20Gears:%20The%20Road%20Ahead%20for%20EV%20Adoption

  • It’s all about Tesla forget the rest. Until Elon produces a small car and actually does some marketing instead of just dropping prices EV sales are going nowhere

    • Doesn't really square with reports that Elon is losing interest in making cars for drivers.
      His fascination with the great god Technology means his focus is on the robotaxi.