Source: Tesla
A surge in sales of Tesla and BYD electric vehicles has taken the total EV sales to an all-time high in Australia in September, with battery electric vehicles making up at least 11.3% of the total new car sales in the month.
A record total of 12,076 new EVs were sold in September, with a resurgent Tesla and the fast growing BYD accounting for more than 7,800, or nearly two thirds, of these sales.
Tesla, BYD and other EV brands offered multiple incentives during the month of September to help boost sales, and the last month of the quarter is traditionally a strong one for Tesla, which on a global basis sold a record 497,000 units in the September quarter, driven by a rush to seize remaining rebates in the US.
In Australia, multiple new models from brands such as Deepal and Zeekr also began deliveries for the first time, which contributed to the growing tally.
As per previous months, the data was separated with two suppliers, the FCAI and the EVS, with the former revealing 7,177 EVs – and – as reported on Thursday – the EVC reporting total sales of 4,889 from Tesla and Polestar.
EV Sales Breakdown – September 2025
| FCAI vFacts | 7,177 |
| EVC (Polestar + Tesla) | 4,899 |
| EV Sales Total (FCAI + EVC) | 12,076 |
| Total Vehicle Sales (FCAI + EVC) | 106,891 |
The growth in EV sales has pushed the 2025 year to date total to 76,443, above the 69,962 reported over the first nine months of 2024.
The Tesla Model Y took the top spot with 3,927 sales, followed by the BYD Sealion 7 with its best month of sales, coming in with 1,887 sales.
Third spot was back with Tesla as the Model 3 defied the SUV bias and delivered 736 sales during the month.
BYD also took the final two spots in the top 5 with Dolphin getting 523 sales and the Seal accounting for 450 units in September.
Other notable mentions in September include the Deepal E07 and Zeekr 7X, which made it onto the tally with a few dozen sales to both. Some of these are likely to be dealer and demonstration cars with official deliveries of the Zeekr 7X starting in October.
The best-selling EVs in September 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 our month by month sales data here.
FCAI CEO Tony Weber said there is now no shortage of battery electric vehicles on the market in Australia.
“With more than 100 BEVs and more than 50 PHEVs available, manufacturers have worked hard to provide Australians with high-quality electric vehicles. What is needed now is a stronger focus on encouraging demand, in particular public recharging infrastructure,” he said in a statement.
“More needs to be done to give mainstream buyers the confidence to consider EVs in the future. We need to move EV ownership beyond early adopters to mainstream Australians if we are to deliver the ambitious transition that the Government is seeking,”.
Going into Q4, the market is likely to be even more competitive – with yet more incentives on offer from various brands – which is ideal for consumers who are currently sitting on the fence considering the switch to electric.
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.
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What is needed now is greater choice of EVs. If you want to buy an SUV you are spoiled for choice. If you DON'T want an SUV and seek something smaller like a four door hatch, there is very little choice.
We need a better selection of type of EVs so we can encourage more people to get into an EV. Just look at all the Toyota Corollas, Mazda 3 and Hyundai I30 on our roads. Surely some of those people would like to upgrade to an EV. We should not be forcing everyone to drive an SUV.
Absolutely agree, there is a gap here...we need more options in the hatch back space. I think the sweet spot is something in the sub 30k mark. This would cater for the second car in the household (in my case), any young people looking for their first car, perhaps empty nesters that no longer need a big car etc.
That is probably the slot the Dolphin is filling in this list. Slightly smaller than a corolla (though slightly taller) while also being in the middle of the corolla price range.
BYD seem to have suddenly opened up dealerships around Tasmania rather than simply one location near Hobart and that seems true for the mainland too. I'm expecting to see Dolphins all over the place in the near future
It seems MG have walked away from that market for a while. MG4 sales have fallen through the floor.
Yes, they have halved - At a guess people are buying the S5 rather than the 4. It isn't much dearer while a bit nicer and more practical in my opinion
Yep. I wish the Renault 5 and the Leapmotor T03 were here. Or even the Ford Puma.
Umm only one BEV Ute available the LDV eT60 at $93k++!
Top 3 out of 4 vehicles sold in Australia is a Ute, if there were some compelling fully electric Ute options in Australia I’d image the EV share would be considerably higher.
Tesla owns it's membership list - but expanding it is the challenge. BYD has the Toyota type field to play on (those not particularly interested in learning how to adapt to the damn thing, AND get TBH to go along with the mobile games console) my guess is that there are more of them.
Can someone please do a wellness check on Giles ? 🤣
It looks like the clickbait news about the death of Tesla has been greatly exaggerated
Why do obsessive Tesla fans and MAGA types both jump in with mocking 😂 emojis? The only wellness I question is their obvious empathy deficit.
I think you're mistaking me for Giles. I didn't write 8 consecutive doomer articles on Tesla. He seems obsessed with Tesla lol
“More needs to be done to give mainstream buyers the confidence to consider EVs in the future”
As usual, the FCAI seem to be saying it’s everyone else’s job to provide consumer confidence to purchase EVs. Nothing to do with them at all, apparently. The FCAI seem to be portraying themselves as completely impotent bystanders in all of this. Mere sideline commentators with zero ability to influence outcomes.
So, Mr. Weber, what has the FCAI done in recent years to engender and facilitate consumer confidence in EVs? Talked positively about the change? Talked about the advantages of EVs? Conducted consumer surveys and directly tackled concerns? Undertaken promotion and advertising to stimulate interest in EVs?
Anything at all?
Has anyone done a recent assessment of car dealers? If someone walks into a dealer and they have zero interest in selling you an EV or they have a clear bias the customer is much less likely to walk out with one. Then you add the daily campaign against the tech from conservative politicians and media.
When I visited my local Hyundai dealer early this year they had one Ioniq 5 N, which I assumed was doing the rounds of dealers and they had never sold on EV. I knew more about their product than they did. They had an Inster on display more recently. Not sure if they have sold any.
No need to assess. The best dealer is no dealer [spoiler] - ERM [/spoiler]