Electric vehicle sales have more than tripled with Tesla leading the pack

Sales of electric vehicles are accelerating rapidly, and came in a more than 24,000 last year, but more incentives are needed, the industry says.

The Tesla Model 3 is dominating the Australian electric vehicle market.

Electric vehicle sales more than tripled last year, with Tesla’s Model 3 still dominating the market, selling more than 10 times the next most popular model.

The Electric Vehicle Council, which has exclusive access to Tesla sales figures, says sales of plug-in electric vehicles more than tripled in the past year, up from 6900 in 2020 to 24,078 last calendar year.

Of the electric cars sold in Australia, 15,054 were the Tesla Model 3, followed at a significant distance by the MG ZS which sold 1388 units.

The Mitsubishi Outlander came in third with 592 units sold.

While the number of EVs sold in Australia is growing rapidly, they still constitute just a fraction of vehicle sales in Australia, with the EVC saying plug-in electric vehicles now had a market share of 2.39 per cent.

Figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries in early January, which do not include Tesla sales numbers, showed that 1.04 million passenger vehicles were sold in Australia in 2021, up 14.5 per cent, with the Ford Ranger coming in at number one with 45,986 sales, knocking the Toyota HiLux off the top spot.

Toyota was the top-selling manufacturer, selling 223,642 vehicles to capture 21.3 per cent of the market.

The MG ZS was the second-most popular electric vehicle in Australia last year.

EVC chief executive Behyad Jafari said there were some positive policy developments at the state level, such as subsidies for new EV purchases, however more needed to be done.

“The penny has now well and truly dropped on how good electric vehicles are,’’ Mr Jafari said.

“Most people in the car market will now be considering an electric option. The role of

government is to help them make the jump.

“It’s great that some state governments have received the global message, but at a national level we’re stuck in the past.

“We desperately need the federal government to introduce Australian EV rebates alongside fuel efficiency standards, just like other developed nations. If we get these changes, you’ll see sales figures really rocket ahead.’’

The Federal Government has ruled out subsidising electric vehicle purchases, preferring to support the rollout of charging infrastructure to make the widespread take-up of EVs more viable.

Mr Jafari said that jurisdictions which failed to introduce policies supportive if the uptake of EVs would find themselves “a dumping ground for old-tech, dirty vehicles.’’

Tesla last week posted a record annual profit of $5.5bn on $53.8bn of sales globally, selling 936,000 cars, up 87 per cent on the previous year.

Sales of electric and hybrid plug in electric vehicles in 2021

1. Tesla Model 3 - 15,054

2. MG ZS - 1388

3. Mitsubishi Outlander - 592

4. MG HS - 580

5. Porsche Taycan - 531

6. Hyundai Kona - 505

7. Volvo XC40 - 495

8. Hyundai Ioniq - 407

9. Nissan Leaf - 367

10. Mercedes Benz EQA - 367

Originally published as Electric vehicle sales have more than tripled with Tesla leading the pack