In March, the market share of electric vehicles (EVs) expanded, contrary to the narrative the Australian automotive lobby seeks to promote.

Media reports based on the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) car sale numbers suggested a decline in the market share of electric vehicles (EVs) in March, dropping to 9.5% from 9.6% in February, despite another month of total sales exceeding 10,000. This narrative aligned with the prevailing mainstream media discourse indicating a downturn in EV sales. However, this perception was incorrect.

The departure of both Tesla and Polestar, the two specialist EV makers in Australia, from the FCAI led to a discrepancy in the reported data. Polestar ceased reporting its sales figures to the FCAI, while Tesla will discontinue reporting sales in June. Consequently, Polestar’s sales numbers were omitted from the FCAI’s “Vfacts” data. When considering Polestar’s sales figures, Australia’s EV sales in March totaled 10,548 units, representing 9.62% of total sales. This is a marginal increase from February’s 9.61% when 10,088 EVs were sold. While the percentage gain is modest, it underscores a positive trend in EV adoption.