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Battery-electric vehicles were 7.2% of all vehicles sold last
year, more than double the 3.1% recorded in 2022, according to
data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) on
Thursday.
The sales share for 2023 rises to 16.2% of all new vehicle sales
once hybrids and plug-in hybrids are included, almost one in
every five vehicles.
After a decade under conservative governments that opposed EV
adoption, the current centre-left Labor government, which won
power in 2022, has launched a national EV strategy and provided
hundreds of millions for clean transport.
Transport is one of Australia's largest sources of emissions and
the growing adoption of electric vehicles bolsters the
government's pledge to cut emissions by 43% by 2030.
However, Australian's continue to prefer SUVs or light
commercial vehicles, models which usually come with higher
emissions when fossil fuelled. The two categories accounted for
78.4% of all new vehicle sales last year.
The Ford Ranger and Toyota Hi-Lux, the two most popular vehicles
and a tenth of all those sold in 2023, tend to emit more carbon
dioxide than average.
Efforts to increase the takeup of electric vehicles have long
been plagued by shortages, a limited number of models and sparse
and sometimes faulty charging equipment.
As a result adoption for many years lagged countries like the US
or Britain, where sales of EVs and plug-in hybrids hit 7.7% and
23%, respectively in 2022, according to the International Energy
Agency.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said in November the government
would soon release details of its long-awaited fuel efficiency
standards, a policy that advocates say will spur manufacturers
to send more EVs to Australia and further boost adoption.
(Reporting by Lewis Jackson; Editing by Michael Perry)
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