Extract from ABC News
Electric cars have become mainstream in Australia, which has been lagging in the uptake of the technology. (Reuters: Stella Qiu)
An electric car is being sold every 100 seconds in Australia, but there is still a long road ahead to decarbonise the country's transport sector, according to the Electric Vehicle Council.
The 10th anniversary edition of the annual State of Electric Vehicles Report shows how EVs have become mainstream within a decade, making up one in four new cars sold.
Sales have more than doubled within a year and last month, EVs outsold petrol and diesel cars for the first time.
"EVs are being taken up as a cost of living measure by households across Australia," Julie Delvecchio, CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council, said.
Owning an EV is no longer a luxury reserved for well-heeled inner-city dwellers as electric cars come close to price parity with petrol versions. Some are now selling for under $20,000.
Electric cars are no longer more expensive than petrol cars, with some models selling under $20,000. (Facebook: Electric Vehicle Council)
This year's sales boom is being driven by suburban commuters, with the highest EV uptake in Tarneit, about 30 kilometres west of Melbourne.
"It's very much an average Australian suburb with people who have mortgages in the six to seven hundred thousands," Aman Gaur, the EVC's Head of Legal, Policy and Advocacy, said.
"They rely on their cars, they do not have access to three forms of public transport outside their front door, and for them, the sensible economic choice is to get into an EV."
Australians now have access to nearly 200 electric models, and incentives such as the fringe benefit tax exemption have helped to drive uptake.
The beginning of the conflict with Iran in February and the subsequent disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has seen fuel prices to surge this year, helping to further push the number of EVs currently on the road to more than 600,000.
"Australia is an island at the end of a long fuel supply chain, holding weeks' worth of reserves and importing almost all of its fuel," the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) report said.
"Every car that plugs in instead of filling up is a permanent upgrade to our energy security."
Long road to meet climate goals
While 2026 may well become a turning point for passenger EVs, reaching Australia's climate targets will require a revolution in the national fleet.
There are about 21 million cars on Australian roads, and EVs make up just 3 per cent compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
"While the doubling of EV uptake over the last year is great news, Australia needs to maintain this momentum to be on track to reach its climate targets," Helen Rowe, the transport lead at the Monash University's Climateworks Centre, said.
The EVC report notes that Australia's EV uptake is not on track to meet the emission reduction targets of 43 per cent below 2005 levels by 2030, and 62 to 70 per cent by 2035.
"That 2035 target requires 5 million battery electric cars on the road by the middle of the next decade—a significant increase in pace from the current trajectory," the EVC's report said.
The other hurdle is charging infrastructure; it's increasing, but not quite keeping pace, according to the EVC's Aman Gaur.
"We do need to have a coordinated charging plan that will help Australians have confidence that they can get out onto the roads and charge either their car or their truck or their van," he said.
Addicted to diesel
Per capita, Australia uses more diesel than the US, China and Saudi Arabia.
And the biggest user of diesel is the transport and freight sector, which has barely started to electrify.
That's not because there are no electric trucks; while still more expensive, there are a growing number of options.
"China, the undisputed leader on truck electrification, saw monthly sales breach 50 per cent in December 2025 and already appears advanced in meeting its new 2030 target for 40 per cent heavy electric truck sales," The EVC report said.
Most freight operators in Australia are small businesses, running on very tight margins, and according to the EVC's Aman Gaur, the cost of switching to electric trucks was still prohibitive.
"There aren't enough financial incentives to get small mum and dad operators to make the switch to electric, which means that Australia is still importing diesel and our economy is still reliant on those imports," he said.
The EVC report called Australia a "global laggard" when it came to adopting electric trucks, with heavy vehicle rules such as road weight limits "complex and notoriously difficult to reform."
"With almost zero policy support and no dedicated charging infrastructure to speak of, electric trucks are yet to hit even 1 per cent of total truck sales.
"This contrasts with European markets and New Zealand, where strong freight electrification policies are moving heavy EVs beyond the 'early adopter' cohort to everyday trucking fleets.
"Electrifying Australia's heavy freight vehicles is the biggest unseized opportunity in Australia's energy transition."
