Image: Kevin M via BYD Sealion 7 Australia Facebook group
Chinese car maker BYD has overtaken Tesla – again – as the best selling electric vehicle brand in Australia, as overall EV sales rebounded above 10,000 in August to take a 9.7 per cent share of the overall new car market.
The rebound in August followed a very slow July, where sales dipped significantly, mostly due to a dramatic fall in Tesla deliveries, when EVs made up just 6.9 per cent of the market.
The feature in August was the ability of BYD to beat Tesla, with the combined sales of its SeaLion 7, Seal, Atto 3 and Dolphin EVs totalling more than 3,000 – 3,064 in total – compared to the 2,927 of Tesla.
The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows that 6,848 battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in August, while the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) reported that Tesla and Polestar together had sold 3,155 in the month of August.
Chinese car maker Xpeng does not report its numbers to either organisation, and may have sold enough to lift the total EV sales to 10 per cent of the market.
Another feature of August is that this is the first monthwhere 4 Chinese car brands made it into the top-10 best-sellers, marking a significant shift in the broader Australian automotive market.
EV Sales Breakdown – August 2025
| FCAI vFacts | 6,848 |
| EVC (Polestar + Tesla) | 3,155 |
| EV Sales Total (FCAI + EVC) | 10,003 |
| Total Vehicle Sales (FCAI + EVC) | 103,694 |
In August, PHEV sales declined from previous months, with 3,906 PHEVs sold during the month, down from over 4,000 PHEVs sold in July. This is the second month of declining PHEV sales.
Looking into the EV models that made up the top 6, the Tesla Model Y came in top with 2,324, followed by the BYD Sealion 7 with 1,413 sales.
The BYD Seal electric sedan came third with 623, the Tesla Model 3 with 603, followed by the BYD Atto 3 SUV and the BYD Dolphin with 594 and 434 sales respectively. Geely grabbed the sixth spot with 401 sales in August.
Other notable mentions in August include the Nissan Ariya, which saw 35 sales during the month.
The best-selling EVs in August 2025 were:
The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers regarding sales of some EV models, and this will be updated once they are received.
See also The Driven’s comprehensive month by month data: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2025 – by model and by brand
FCAI CEO Tony Weber used the occasion to push for road user charges for all vehicles, not just EVs, to replace the fuel excise which is declining as petrol and diesel cars become more efficient, and with the growing number of hybrids.
“As the number of electrified vehicles increases, governments must support a smooth transition away from fuel excise,” he said. “A road user charge is needed to provide an enduring revenue stream to support road and recharging infrastructure.
“The presence of four Chinese brands in the top ten illustrates the continuing evolution of the automotive landscape in Australia. Consumers have an extraordinary range of vehicles to choose from – more than 400 models, including around 100 EVs.”
Overall, we are seeing more incentives from multiple EV brands as we get into September, making the market even more competitive. What’s more is that the new and existing manufacturers are hinting at EV incentives in the coming months to finish the year off.
Multiple new and recent models are also launching in a very competitive EV market, thanks to NVES kicking into gear.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.
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View Comments
Those numbers are crazy.
But it points at Tesla having 6 models, not two.
Love statistics.
Leapmotor and Deepal must be disappointed as they have pretty good reviews and are high on the value for money index. Both one trick ponies at the mo' hopefully they will do better when their other models arrive. BYD sold 27x more Dolphins than Deepal's S07.
RUC does not address the huge amount of pollution produce in Australia by non road vehicles.
Fuel excise is a kind of pollution tax. Kinda. If you squint.
Bring in a mileage x weight tax but keep the fuel excise as the carbon tax.
Make the fee heavily use based to discourage driving for school and commutes to reduce congestion
Bring in 51 cents per kw tax for ev owners
It also pays for your hospital and schools but ev owners forget this
I don’t. Because I’m one of the ones who points out that fuel excise goes into consolidated revenue and so saying it “pays for roads” is no more true than saying income tax or the GST or company tax pays for roads.
It’s all one bucket of money.
In any event, state vehicle fees (vehicle registration fees and drivers licence fees) raise as much money as the fuel excise does. So EV drivers definitely “pay their way”.
Wait, what, Tony Weber didn’t have a whinge for once over how terrible EV sales were and the Government needs to do something?
The new Elroq (including mine!) will be in your September sales figures.
Why doesn't Xpeng report its sales?
I want everyone to know that I have an electric car.
What is the most 'space' styled EV available?
Could you translate that into an English sentence please.
Ha, cop that Tesla! You've been TRUMPED by errr... 4.6% this month! You're getting totally WRECKED by BYD, whose 4 models are **checks notes** 29.7% behind you this year!
Still no comment from the writers on the Chinese government subsidiaries.
Why is that
Who are the Chinese Government subsidiaries? 🤔
Hong Kong and Macau? 😝