Electric cars speed up but utes and SUVs dominate sales

Electric vehicle sales are continuing to accelerate in Australia, with new figures showing their popularity has risen almost 20 per cent, overtaking hybrid vehicles.

But the Australian automotive market is still dominated by utes and SUVs, according to figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, which showed the large vehicles make up all of the country's top 10 selling models.

The sales figures, released on Wednesday, showed electric vehicles made up 6.79 per cent of new cars sold in Australia during March - an increase of 19.5 per cent from March 2022.

Electric cars also outsold hybrids by more than 1000 vehicles, or 26 per cent, in March.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said the statistics proved motorists were increasingly eager to buy electric vehicles but new policies were needed to bring more into the country.

"This growth demonstrates that where Australians can afford a battery electric vehicle which suits their lifestyle, they will buy them," he said.

"If we want more zero- and low-emission vehicles on our roads then we must provide the necessary recharging infrastructure and move to implement an ambitious yet achievable fuel efficiency standard which will encourage manufacturers to allocate more of the limited supply to Australia."

Utes remained the most popular vehicle type in Australia, however, with the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max claiming the country's top three spots, followed by SUVs from Mitsubishi, Tesla and Mazda.

Toyota, Mazda and Ford also remained Australia's top three car brands, though the market share of each fell several percentage points over the past year as more cars made in China gained popularity.

Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Behyad Jafari said the statistics showed Australian motorists were keen to buy electric vehicles but there were not enough models or stock available in the country.

"Demand is by far outstripping supply right now and that's why the most important issue facing our transport sector is introducing a strong fuel-efficiency standard that ramps up supply supply of fuel-efficient vehicles as well as electric vehicles," he said.

"Car makers still tell us very clearly that when they write up the priority list for where to send electric cars, they send them to markets with strong fuel efficiency standards like Europe, the USA and New Zealand, and Australia gets what's left over."

Mr Jafari said new policies encouraging manufacturers to bring electric vehicles to Australia, particularly in different styles and prices, could rapidly double their sales.

A fuel efficiency standard, which would set an emissions target for car makers, was addressed in the federal government's National Electric Vehicle Strategy discussion paper last year, which attracted more than 500 submissions.

Greenpeace Australia Pacific campaigner Joe Rafalowicz said the government's response to the paper was overdue.

"Australians are voting for EVs with their dollars so it's time the strategy is released and an ambitious policy is introduced to give more Australians more access to a range of EV models sooner," he said.