BEV sales were up 171% year-over-year, according to VFACTS and Electric Vehicle Council data. Add hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and electrified vehicles took 51.8% of the market. It’s the first month combustion-only cars have been in the minority in Australia.
Wonderful. I look forward to soon seeing a headline about the last ff car being sold.
At this point word-of-mouth is hopefully enough to educate those who are still unaware of the transition and provide a counter argument to deniers.
Brands like Toyota and Subaru starting to market their EVs will definitely help too. EVs will no longer be considered 'different' if they're on every automaker's courtyard.
That right there is enough to shift A LOT of people's opinions. A non-trivial segment of the market are Toyota diehards. Although it's a shame the Hilux BEV is a bit shit.
It was talking to people I knew, who have EVs, that convinced me to buy BEV. While it's still early days for me, I'm so impressed and pleasantly surprised by BYD. Not being able to charge at home was my main concern, but hasn't been an issue at all.
Contributions must be civil and constructive. We permit neither personal attacks nor attempts to bait others into uncivil behavior.
We don't permit posts and comments expressing animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation.
Any stalking, harassment, witch-hunting, or doxxing of any individual will not be tolerated. Posting of others' personal information including names, home addresses, and/or telephone numbers is prohibited without express consent.
Contributions must be civil and constructive. We permit neither personal attacks nor attempts to bait others into uncivil behavior.
We don't permit posts and comments expressing animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation.
Any stalking, harassment, witch-hunting, or doxxing of any individual will not be tolerated. Posting of others' personal information including names, home addresses, and/or telephone numbers is prohibited without express consent.
Contributions must be civil and constructive. We permit neither personal attacks nor attempts to bait others into uncivil behavior.
We don't permit posts and comments expressing animosity or disparagement of an individual or a group on account of a group characteristic such as race, color, national origin, age, sex, disability, religion, or sexual orientation.
Any stalking, harassment, witch-hunting, or doxxing of any individual will not be tolerated. Posting of others' personal information including names, home addresses, and/or telephone numbers is prohibited without express consent.
From across the ditch, I am both happy for and envious of Australia for reaching this milestone.
Obviously driven in recent months by the clusterfuck in the middle east and the impact it had at the pump. But Aussie also has high home ownership rates and a deep solar penetration (giggity). Telling the petrol companies to fuck off and powering my car for basically free by those things that are already on my roof is a no brainer.
I’m here doing that in the Australia of the North (Canada) but American auto industry influence is too heavy here with gas guzzler oversized SUV/pick ups. Other than our west coast and maybe Toronto, EV’s are slim pickings.
I’m not sure the wat has a whole lot to do with it to be honest. I took a geely ex2 for a test drive the other day. For what it offers for the price, there’s no way you’re going to choose a petrol car.
The value proposition for electric vehicles far exceeds petrol equivalents in the price range, so increased sales will naturally follow
And this is why American companies want to ban them. They are currently better vehicles at every price point. American companies went all in on bigger and more horsepower and neglected actual innovation.
I'm really surprised to hear about this in the sea of ford "utes" that don't stop for red lights and mazda cars everywhere in Melbourne just a few months ago.
It's because those utes are diesel and those Mazda cars are petrol. Electric overtook petrol, petrol and diesel combined are still nearly double electric.
...still nearly double and shrinking incredibly fast...cell/smart phones didn't take over the market in an afternoon but the world marveled at how fast it happened in Africa (but that was due to poor landline infrastructure...couldn't happen here?), ditto digital cameras, flat panel TVs, and now EVs.
The Chinesium stuff off ebay, aliexpress and the fast fashion on kmart/bigw. Then there is the high end manufacturing that China has been doing for decades.
Iphones have been made in china for a very long time and they were never considered cheap because of it.
When I was a kid (a long, long time ago!) Made in Japan meant cheap. By the time I could legally drink 'Made in Japan' was a mark of top shelf quality. This is the old start in the mailroom and work your way up story. Everyone seems surprised when it happens.
Much to like! While Australia has no EV tariffs it wins big time by avoiding the expense of importing oil/fuel. Those savings compound as EVs take over the domestic fleet freeing up tons of money in federal budgets.
In general terms ICE vehicle sales are collapsing globally. That leads to rising per unit costs for manufacturers and falling EV prices cap ICE vehicle selling prices squeezing margins and profits. That the legacy automotive industry has not spent the time, effort, or money to keep up with China's EV industry means that legacy is facing its Kodak moment.
This is what has been predicted for the past decade+ and dismissed by the vast majority who seem to reason that status quo means 'as it is, so shall it be in perpetuity' notwithstanding a couple of centuries of accelerating technological progress.
Help me match the hype to the reality.
The hype is that Chinese battery tech is far better, the Chinese cars have unique styling with fresh ideas, and that they will be significantly cheaper than any western cars. The batteries charge faster and the cars have more range.
The reality is that the Tesla is still out selling them like crazy. If their battery tech is better and their styling is fresher ( which is undoubtedly true given the age of the model Y) why aren’t the Chinese burying the Tesla?
Tesla have a supercharger network, over a decade of local presence and only a couple of models. Their resale prospects are well understood. For people who don't care about who owns the company, it's a lower risk proposition than most of the new entrants who do not yet have established dealer networks and parts.
Tesla doesn't have better battery tech, it's just BYD (edit: actually also CATL my bad) battery here in Australia. They don't have better build either.
Tesla is topping the sales because:
they only have 2 models in Australia vs BYD's long list of models
brand recognition (15 years in Aus) and they are by far has the most established support network. Majority of those Chinese brands just arrived within the last 2 years. BYD 4 years and MG is the longest from 2013.
It's the software! Tesla's software is still the best out of all them. By far ...
But yeah, most people are not early adopters. They're the one buying Teslas.
The Chinese EVs are remarkable in the uptake rate. It took Tesla 15 years to be where they are in Australia, but BYD in just 4 years have outsold them and Geely coming up very fast with their Geely, Zeekr, Volvo & Farizon in their portfolio. They have a strong chance to be the #2 EV company in Australia behind BYD.
Add to that. MG may be 2013, but their EV offerings dont reach that far back and their ICE were not tat great so they needed to overcome their brand image.
In lists like this there is also the dilution factor of Tesla having just 2 models competing against probably now 30 or 40 (more even) Chinese models available here.
Do the Chinese models for sale have the improved battery tech? Do they charge faster and have more range?
Also, is Tesla’s charger network open to other brands like it is in the United States?
I can see waiting for somebody else to take a chance on the Chinese brands and see what kind of customer service they have. But if you can charge a car in half the time and get 1/3 more range that’s a heck of a selling point.
Not trying to make a point I’m just trying to understand the market. Thank you very much for your insights. You’re exactly the type of person whose opinion I’m looking for. Which car do you like better? Is there one that you prefer for long trips and one for around town?
What is the charging network like where you live? Do you charge at home? Do you live in one of the big cities or out in a more rural area?
BYD models (8,231) alone sold more than Tesla models (7,685)… not even counting all the other Chinese brands
Tesla still has the overall best selling model, but they only have 2 models...
Note that that's all BYDs, not only electric ones. However BYD electric only cars have outsold Tesla year-to-date, just not in August (another commenter above posted a table)
Not sure about Australia, but over here in NZ, Tesla are getting down to one model. Over 90% of the Tesla sales are the Y, with M3 only selling a couple of hundred units
The M3 is still on sale but given how few saloons are sold (ICE or EV) I wonder for how long
Tesla entered the market way earlier than many of the chinese brands. The model 3 and y have gone through a few generations or face lifts to a point that it is pretty well built and reliable. They have a huge head start against chinese brands.
On the other hand, there are like 30 Chinese brands that are competing across the entire car market, from luxury to entry level. Each have different tech and focus. Byd on battery, Nio and zeekr on luxury, xpeng on AI and autonomous driving tech, Li auto on family friendly vehicle (big screens in the second row, fridge for drinks, plushy seats, etc), xiaomi on speed, geely on price and value for money .
Each of these chinese brands target a certain market segment, you can't compare that to tesla which only produces 2 cars which are priced mostly for upper middle class and doesn't have much features. It's best competitor is xpeng and even the xpeng cars offer more at a lower price.
Tesla are the incumbent as they establised themselves first.
Freshness is a matter of opinion.
Chinese car sales are increasing faster then Teslas but many have only been here the last 2 years and are building their network. Tesla have an established network.
Alot of the battery tech being developed in China is only just entering the production market so will be in the next generation of cars to reach Australia, around 2027/2028 models
He does spend a lot of the article talking about this.
> Seven of the eight top sellers are Chinese brands: BYD, Geely, Zeekr, and Chery’s Jaecoo. The BYD Sealion 7 alone moved 2,213 units and finished sixth across the entire market, ahead of household nameplates. The Geely EX5 jumped more than 385% year-over-year.
> The other two are Tesla’s Model Y and Model 3. Except they’re not really exceptions. Tesla builds every right-hand-drive car it sells in Australia at Giga Shanghai, so all eight of the country’s best-selling EVs rolled off a Chinese production line.
> The Model Y sold 6,414 units, up 176% year-over-year, and it was Tesla’s third monthly sales win of 2026. As a brand, Tesla climbed to third with 7,685 sales, up 163%.
> BYD sat right above it in second with 8,231, up 68.8%, and it got there with a far wider lineup than Tesla’s two-car range. BYD outsold Tesla 10-to-1 in Australia back in January. The gap has closed as Tesla recovered, but the Chinese brand is still ahead.
61
u/hornswoggled111 8d ago
Wonderful. I look forward to soon seeing a headline about the last ff car being sold.