EV sales in Australia have gotten off to a shaky start in 2025, with January witnessing a sharp drop in new car sales, partially due to a significant fall in EV leader Tesla’s sales, but also to a broader drop in vehicle appetite – despite recent price cuts.
The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) shows that just 3,832 battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in January – a share of only 4.4 per cent. The overall market also saw a decline, with total vehicle sales landing at 87,625 compared to 99,666 in the month prior.
In January 2024, EVs made up 5.5% of the market, highlighting the scale of the decline in 2025. As per previous months, the data was separated with two suppliers, the FCAI shared 3,011 EVs – and those supplied by the Electric Vehicle Council – 821 – from Tesla and Polestar.
EV Sales Breakdown – January 2025
| FCAI vFacts | 3,011 |
| EVC (Polestar + Tesla) | 821 |
| EV Sales Total (FCAI + EVC) | 3,832 |
| Total Vehicle Sales (FCAI + EVC) | 87,625 |
Despite the big 33 per cent drop in overall Tesla sales, which are now one quarter of its levels from January, 2023, the Model Y retained its crown as the best-selling EV in the country, even though much of the hype in January was around the refreshed Model Y, which Tesla finally unveiled.
With price cuts on the current Model Y, it accounted for 465 sales in January – pipping the more affordable MG4, which took the second spot with 440 sales in a month where prices of the hatchback rose from lows in late 2024.
Kia scored the third spot on the podium – for the first time – with the EV5 registering 289 sales, edging out the Tesla Model 3 which had 274 sales.
To round out the top 5, Audi Q4 e-tron, a new entrant on the charts, took this spot with 121 sales, although exact sales data for some models are yet to come through.
It is interesting to note that sales of BYD – the Chinese car giant challenging Tesla as the biggest EV seller in the world – continued to slide, with the Atto 3 seeing just 105 sales, Dolphin reaching only 82 and the Seal scoring just 52 sales.
BYD’s best-seller for the month was the Sealion 6 with 433 sales, even that was down compared to monthly averages of around 1,000, seen in 2024.
Other notable EVs in January were a couple of new entrants including the ID.4 and ID.5 SUVs from Volkswagen which had been promised for years but never arrived until January 2025. Both accounted for 16 sales. The ID.Buzz registered 21.
The Toyota bZ4X, which has displaced the Model Y as the best selling EV in Norway, the world’s most electric market – sold just 80 units in Australia in January and does not make the top 10.
The best-selling EVs in January 2025 were:
- Tesla Model Y – 465 sales
- MG MG4 – 440 sales
- Kia EV5 – 289 sales
- Tesla Model 3 – 274 sales
- Audi Q4 e-tron – 121 sales
- Hyundai Ioniq 5 – 109 sales
- BMW i4 – 108 sales
- BYD Atto 3 – 105 sales
- Volvo EX30 – 103 sales
- Mercedes-Benz EQB – 95 sales
- BYD Dolphin – 85 sales
- Toyota bZ4X – 80 sales
The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers regarding sales of some EV models, and this list will be updated once they’re received.
You can also check out further details in our month by sales data record here.
While sales of full battery electric cars fell, sales of hybrids and plug-in hybrid vehicles continued to grow and now make up nearly one in five of new sales representing 17.1 per cent and 2.2 per cent of sales respectively.
FCAI CEO Tony Weber said the fall in EV sales is a major concern because consumers are turning away from EVs at the time the Commonwealth Government has introduced the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
“The industry continues to increase the range of zero and low-emission vehicles providing consumers with an increased choice of models and varying price points.,” he said in a statement.
“However, the Government needs to reconsider the steps it can take to build consumer confidence in EVs, otherwise their ambitious NVES targets will not be met.
Sales are expected to rebound with many new EV models entering in the coming months, and more price cuts including the $29,990 offer with BYD’s Essentials range.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.
See also: Tesla sales crash in Australia as Musk impact has consumers looking for another brand
And: Tesla sales are plunging around the world: Is this just a Musk problem?
And: Norway EV share hits 96 pct in January, as Toyota tops list and Tesla slumps
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.