Aussie drivers prefer SUVs and utesto buying electric vehicles, new research shows

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association says consumer sentiment for electric vehicles is ‘shifting at a trickle rather than a flood’.

An electric vehicle being charged. Picture: Getty Images

New car dealers say most Australians will purchase an SUV or ute as their next vehicle and are keeping their cars for longer because of cost-of-living pressures, as research shows three in five people are less open to paying more for electric vehicles.

In a warning shot to the Albanese government as it consults on plans to reduce Australia’s light vehicle emissions by 60 per cent by the end of the decade, the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), representing 670 new car dealers with more than 3000 dealerships, said consumer sentiment for EVs was “shifting at a trickle rather than a flood”. The peak body collected feedback from 2000 drivers, in an ­update to research first conducted in December 2022.

“The proportion of the market open to buying an EV has grown, but represents only one in four buyers (up from 21 per cent in 2022), as the strongest barrier to considering an EV remains the higher purchase price,” AADA chief executive James Voortman said.

“Most buyers are looking at a non-electric SUV or a ute as their next vehicle.

“This is no surprise because these are the vehicles Australians love, but are also the cars most at risk of an overly ­aggressive vehicle emissions standard,” he said.

“It is also clear that consumers are less likely to buy a new one due to the current cost-of-living crisis. The last thing we need to do at this time is to further discourage consumers from buying new cars, which are safer, cleaner and greener than the old cars they replace.”

The number of Australians who weren’t open to an EV ­because they cost too much ­decreased by 5 per cent in a year, from 62 per cent to 57 per cent, while those less willing to pay more for an electric car over other fuel types due to economic circumstances increased slightly from 60 per cent to 62 per cent.

An overwhelming 71 per cent of people believed that the ­government should be incentivising customers more to transition to EVs.

And 62 per cent of respondents said their next purchase would be an SUV or ute, with a trend towards medium SUVs set to continue.

The Albanese government estimates a fuel efficiency standard, which would apply only to new cars and not retrospectively, could save motorists $519 per year in fuel costs.