Electric vehicle sales soar: Australia's top suburbs for EV uptake revealed with Brisbane drivers...
The Aussie regions with the most drivers making the switch to electric vehicles have been revealed with some surprising results. A growing number of motorists are embracing zero emission cars as the popularity of battery electric and hybrid vehicles accelerates, thanks in part to generous state government subsidies and rebates. South-east , the ACT and parts of are leading the way in terms of EV ownership, new data showed. The peak motoring body revealed the top local government areas of EV uptake with , a particularly large council area, ranked number one with more than 6,700 cars bought in the last year. Canberra, the nation's capital, was second, followed by the Gold Coast, Sydney's northern beaches and Boroondara, in Melbourne's east, rounding out the top five. Sydney's CBD was sixth, followed by Ku-ring-gai in the city's upper north shore, Queensland's nner West, Parramatta, Blacktown and Ryde made the top 20 while over in the west, Stirling in Perth's north leads the way and is ranked 16th nationally. The number of EVs sold in the light vehicles market doubled between January 31, 2022 and the start of 2023. While internal combustion engine vehicles remain the dominant fuel type, its national market share dropped to 83.15 per cent in the recent June quarter, down from 86.4 per cent the previous three months. The ACT is home to Australia's highest penetration of EV vehicles with one per cent of registered light vehicles being battery EVs and a further three per cent hybrids. In comparison, EV penetration was 0.41 per cent in NSW, 0.39 per cent in Victoria, and 0.37 per cent in Queensland as of January 31, 2023. One in five light vehicles sold in the ACT in the three months to June 30 were electric, the AAA data showed. EV sales grew by a whopping 117 per cent in Victoria in the June quarter while NSW and Queensland recorded a 21 per cent and 23 per cent rise respectively. Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen welcomed the growing EV uptake but said Australia still had a long way to go in order of hitting key emissions-reduction targets. 'Of course, an increase in fleet EV sales now flows through to the second-hand market in a few years time, which will be a big boost for EV affordability,' the minister told The Australian Financial Review. The federal government also hopes its recent axing of the fringe benefit tax on electric vehicles will help boost the second-hand market in coming years. Elsewhere in the AAA EV Index, Western Australia has below-average penetration rates of both battery EV and hybrid fuel types. As does Queensland statewide, despite Brisbane, Gold Coast and the Sunshine Coast leading the way on EV uptake. South Australias hybrid penetration is equal to the national average, but the EV penetration is lower. The Northern Territory has higher hybrid registration penetration and lower EV penetration than the national rates. In Tasmania, registrations of battery EVs were at 0.31 per cent below the 0.38 per cent national average at the end of January 2023. But Tasmania June quarter EV sales penetration was the second highest in Australia behind ACT with 9.98 per cent, well above the 8.67 per cent national average The vast majority of EV sales were the Tesla Models Y and 3 and the BYD Atto 3, with prices starting respectively at $65,400, $57,400 and $48,011 for the Chinese-made cars. The BYD Dolphin is Australia's cheapest EV at $38,890 with the MG4 Electric, launched last week, not far behind on $38,990. It was recently revealed that drivers are , along with a few surprises in the trove of data. Well-heeled suburbs of Sydney, Melbourne and dominate the top 20 list of where electric cars are registered by federal electorate, with the Gold Coast intriguingly having the most per capita. When the Tesla list was expanded to include the top 30 areas, Perth and Canberra had a few entries but and upmarket beach hotspots like and Noosa were nowhere to be seen. State governments also offer generous EV subsidies and stamp duty exemptions. New South Wales has since 2021 offered a $3,000 rebate for cars worth up to $68,750 for personal use, and a stamp duty exemption for new and used electric vehicles worth up to $78,000.