Australia sells an EV every 100 seconds as demand more than doubles

Australians bought electric vehicles at a record pace in the first half of the year, with 157,957 new EVs sold nationally between January and June — a 117% increase on the same period last year, according to the Electric Vehicle Council’s state of EVs report.

The figures, reported by The Guardian, put demand at a rate equivalent to one EV sold every 100 seconds.

EVs accounted for one in four new vehicles sold in the first half of the year, up from 12.1% in the first six months of 2025. The total comprised about 104,000 battery-electric vehicles and 54,000 plug-in hybrids, while petrol and diesel vehicle sales fell 14% year on year.

Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio said households were taking up EVs as “a cost-of-living measure”, adding that the fuel crisis was an accelerating factor but “not the starting gun”. “It exposed the value of the policy work that had already been done,” she said.

Australia’s national EV fleet now stands at about 612,000 vehicles, served by 4,268 public charging locations, with nearly 200 EV models available in 2026. Aman Gaur, the council’s head of policy and advocacy, said Australia was “well on track” to reach 1 million EVs on its roads by next year.

Sources

• The Guardian: An EV sold every 100 seconds — Australian demand for electric cars more than doubles
• Electric Vehicle Council: EV Surge Continues media release, August 2026