Analysis: Cutting through the bull to explain what’s really going on with EV, PHEV, hybrid and Tesla sales
Sales of battery electric vehicles are down, but Aussies have never embraced so many electric motors to power their vehicles.
Plug-in hybrids and regular hybrids are surging in the sales race off the back of new models and increasing interest in the tech.
But there’s devil in the detail of the monthly sales figure data.
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Many luxury brands, for example, continue to perform strongly with battery electric vehicles.
And medium passenger cars are dominated by EVs.
Let’s talk Tesla
Tesla’s dramatic sales drop has been the talk of the town – and the EV universe.
And while it’s certainly not what the brand would have had planned, it’s also worth putting it into context.
It’s not just Elon Musk’s bromance with Donald Trump that’s causing this downturn, although it’s definitely a factor.
Yes, Tesla sales were down 72 percent compared with February 2024.
But they had a long way to fall, following a massive sales result 12 months ago.
In February last year Tesla’s two models were in the list of top 10 sellers outright for the month up with diesel utes and medium SUVs like the Toyota HiLux and RAV4.
In fact, the only other brand with two cars in the top 10 was Toyota.
And in February 2025 the Tesla Model 3 still outsold the Toyota Camry, with 688 sales versus the Camry’s 483.
And despite being in runout ahead of the Juniper update’s arrival, the Tesla Model Y is still a strong seller in the medium SUV space.
With 924 sales in February it was the top selling medium SUV over $60,000 and was the ninth best selling medium SUV overall.
EVs still lead in medium passenger cars
We’re still buying more electric mid-sized passenger cars than ones powered by petrol and diesel (hybrid included).
Of 1358 medium cars sold in February, 884 of them were EVs.
And remember this is a segment that includes the Toyota Camry.
The biggest seller was the Tesla Model 3 (pictured top), with 688 sales.
But the BMW i4 did well, too, with 95 sales, which is not far off the Mercedes-Benz C-Class line-up (110).
PHEVs continue to boom
Plug-in hybrids are the darlings of the electrified world right now, largely off the back of new product.
The BYD Shark 6 was the top seller in February, accounting for 2026 of the 4871 sold for the month. Worth noting the plug-in ute’s total includes a few hundred January deliveries as well due to a reporting glitch.
PHEV sales have more than tripled so far in the first two months of the year, but we’ve bought almost five times more regular hybrids and battery electric vehicles.
RAV4 leads hybrid surge
After two months, plugless hybrid vehicle sales are up a massive 42.5 per cent year-on-year from 21,182 to 30,184.
The charge is being led by the Toyota RAV4, which has tallied 9481 sales to lead both months outright. Its sales are up 87.6 per cent year-on-year.
Yep, EVs are down
Sales of EVs have fallen in the first two months of the year, largely off the back of that Tesla result.
For February alone EV sales were down 19 per cent.
But with 5671 EV sales we’re still buying more full battery electric vehicles than plug-in hybrids (3448).
There’s a chance EVs will fight back after the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption on PHEVs dries up on April 1.
And, of course, there are plenty more new arrivals that should naturally kick interest along.
It’s also worth remembering the entire new vehicle market is down as back orders are now filled and the economy remains tight.
After two months, the overall market is off 6.7 per cent.
Some brands are punching hard on EVs
There are some impressive results in the sales figures.
MG was the second biggest seller of EVs in Australia with 869 sales, well ahead of Kia on 493.
BMW continues to lead the luxury brands on EV sales and the German giant is the fourth biggest seller of electric vehicles in Australia.
Even BMW’s small car brand Mini muscles into the list of top 10 sellers.
Volvo continues to bubble along with healthy EV sales, too.
And 40 percent of the Rolls-Royces sold in February were electric. OK, that translates to only four cars, but still…
And 17 percent of the 510 Porsches sold in February were electric, with the new Macan doing most of the heavy lifting.
The political fall-out
Automotive lobby group the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) took the opportunity offered by declining EV sales to attack Australia’s freshly introduced CO2 reduction regulations, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).
“We are now two months into the Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard, and while the supply of battery electric vehicles has risen dramatically, consumer demand has fallen by 37 per cent this year compared with the first two months of 2024,” said FCAI chief executive Tony Weber.
“We knew the supply of EVs would increase and there are now 88 models supplied to the Australian market. However, our grave concern has always been the rate of EV adoption and what assumptions the Government had made in its modelling around consumer demand for EVs in the NVES. This modelling remains secret.
“The easy part is to set aspirational targets but without consumers demanding EVs, the NVES will not succeed. It is time for the Government to consider the realities faced by consumers.”
This brought a strong an immediate response from Polestar Australia chief Scott Maynard. Polestar withdrew from the FCAI last year because of its campaign against the NVES.
“Efforts to undermine this legislation will only disadvantage Australians,” he said.
“This week’s comments from the FCAI are the latest in a campaign to water down long-overdue emissions standards that will deliver Australians cleaner cars and lower running costs.
“The NVES was developed to lower vehicle emissions by incentivising carmakers to offer more hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and battery electric options, and we can clearly see car brands rising to that challenge.
“By the end of the year, Australian new car buyers will have over 100 battery electric vehicles available to them.
“Over 85 per cent of global car markets have a fuel efficiency standard in place to deliver improved health outcomes and reduce ownership costs. We must stay the course to see these benefits realised in Australia.”
EV sales by brand for February 2025
| Tesla | 1592 |
| MG | 869 |
| Kia | 493 |
| BMW | 488 |
| BYD | 395 |
| Volvo | 268 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 249 |
| Hyundai | 153 |
| Mini | 143 |
| Polestar | 125 |
| Audi | 116 |
| Ford | 106 |
| Zeekr | 99 |
| Porsche | 89 |
| Cupra | 86 |
| Chery | 67 |
| Toyota | 66 |
| Renault | 53 |
| GWM | 44 |
| Volkswagen | 33 |
| Leapmotor | 29 |
| Nissan | 18 |
| Lexus | 17 |
| Fiat | 14 |
| Mercedes-Benz | 14 |
| LDV | 11 |
| Peugeot | 8 |
| Subaru | 8 |
| Skoda | 7 |
| Rolls-Royce | 4 |
| Genesis | 3 |
| Jeep | 3 |
| Mazda | 1 |
Source: VFACTS/FCAI and EV Council
EV sales by make/model for February 2025
| Tesla Model Y | 924 |
| Tesla Model 3 | 688 |
| MG MG4 | 451 |
| MG ZS | 432 |
| Kia EV5 | 400 |
| BYD Sealion 7 | 157 |
| BYD Atto 3 | 138 |
| BMW iX1 | 137 |
| Volvo EX30 | 108 |
| BMW iX2 | 105 |
| Zeekr X | 98 |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E | 96 |
| BMW i4 | 95 |
| Audi Q4 e-tron | 94 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV | 94 |
| Volvo C40 | 86 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQA | 84 |
| Polestar 4 | 83 |
| Hyundai Kona | 79 |
| CUPRA Born | 71 |
| Porsche Macan | 71 |
| MINI Countryman | 69 |
| Chery Omoda 5 | 67 |
| Toyota bZ4X | 66 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 5 | 65 |
| Volvo XC40 | 63 |
| BMW 5 Series | 61 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQB | 58 |
| BMW X3 | 57 |
| BYD Seal | 56 |
| Renault Megane E-Tech | 48 |
| Kia EV6 | 47 |
| MINI Aceman | 46 |
| BYD Dolphin | 44 |
| GWM Ora | 44 |
| Polestar 2 | 36 |
| Kia EV9 | 34 |
| BMW iX | 33 |
| Leapmotor C10 | 29 |
| MINI Cooper | 28 |
| Volkswagen ID. Buzz Cargo | 19 |
| Nissan Leaf | 18 |
| Porsche Taycan | 18 |
| Audi Q6 e-tron | 15 |
| CUPRA Tavascan | 15 |
| Fiat 500 / Abarth | 14 |
| Kia Niro | 12 |
| Lexus RZ | 11 |
| Volvo EX90 | 11 |
| Hyundai Ioniq 6 | 9 |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito / eVito Van | 9 |
| Volkswagen ID.4 | 9 |
| Ford Transit Heavy | 8 |
| LDV Deliver 7 / eDeliver7 | 8 |
| Subaru Solterra | 8 |
| Peugeot Partner | 7 |
| Skoda Enyaq | 7 |
| Lexus UX | 6 |
| MG Cyberster | 6 |
| Mercedes-Benz G-Class | 6 |
| Polestar 3 | 6 |
| Volkswagen ID.5 | 5 |
| Audi Q8 e-tron | 4 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV | 4 |
| Renault Kangoo | 4 |
| Rolls-Royce Coupe/Conv | 4 |
| Audi e-tron GT | 3 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQE | 3 |
| Jeep Avenger | 3 |
| Ford Transit Custom | 2 |
| Genesis GV60 | 2 |
| LDV Mifa9 | 2 |
| Lotus Emeya | 2 |
| Mercedes-Benz Sprinter | 2 |
| Mercedes-Benz Vito/ eVito Tour | 2 |
| Genesis GV70 | 1 |
| LDV T60/T60 EV 4X2 | 1 |
| Lotus Eletre | 1 |
| Mazda MX-30 | 1 |
| Mercedes-Benz EQV | 1 |
| Peugeot Expert / E-Expert | 1 |
| Renault Trafic | 1 |
| Zeekr 009 | 1 |
Source: VFACTS/FCAI and EV Council
