It feels like Australia’s enthusiasm for EVs is stuck in reverse.
In China, 50 per cent of new cars sold are electric, in the US it’s 10 per cent, but expectations for electric vehicles to make up 20 per cent of all new cars sold worldwide over the next five years have been radically downgraded by the International Energy Agency.
BYD is aggressively pushing into Australia.Credit: Joseph Plumb
Meanwhile in Europe, despite a recent stagnation in sales growth, electric cars’ market penetration has already reached 20 per cent.
In Australia, Tesla is still the largest seller of electric cars, but its dominance is waning as its sales here and in other markets have fallen.
There’s a number of financial and practical reasons that Australians appear to have lost the gusto for electric vehicles, but for the most part, it appears like the wave of early adopters has petered out.
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This pioneering bunch was less sensitive to price.
Car manufacturers will now need to work harder to trigger the next wave of EV converts, even as the prices of electric vehicles are becoming more affordable.
According to the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria, the arrival of cheaper models in Australia means you can now hit the road in an electric small hatch or mid-size SUV for a similar price as a top-of-the-range Toyota Corolla, Mazda3 or Hyundai i30.
But even if EVs are coming down in price, the demand will hit a roadblock if they remain less convenient than petrol guzzlers.
FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the main reason why consumers are slamming the brakes on new EV sales is the lack of recharging infrastructure. This is measured by the proportion of recharging stations relative to what the industry refers to as ‘the carpark’ – the total number of electric cars on the road.
He also noted that Australians like to drive larger cars which are, in general, harder to electrify.
Australians talk a big game on climate change, and we are considered a nation of early technology adopters. But on EVs, it looked increasingly like momentum has stalled.
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