Demand for EVs soars in Australia during May

Demand for electric vehicles (EV) reached an all-time high in May, with an EV topping the sales charts for the first time ever, and Tesla enjoying an historic month.

According to the combined figures of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) that is exclusively supplied with data from Tesla and Polestar, EVs accounted for a record 19.9 per cent of the market.

Or, in other words, out of 106,887 new vehicles sold in May (which was down slightly year-on-year), 21,303 of them were EVs.

Adding hybrid and plug-in hybrid sales figures to the EV numbers bumps that percentage up to an unheard-of 46.4 per cent, meaning that nearly one in every two vehicles sold in May were electrified in some way.

This continues an unprecedented upward trajectory, driven by high fuel prices, greater consumer choice and the extension of the Australian Federal Government’s Electric Car Discount announced in early May.

For the first five months of this year, EV sales are up by nearly 110 per cent year-on-year, from 33,976 units in 2025 to 71,144 units.

Leading the charge, so to speak, was the Tesla Model Y with 5606 sales, leapfrogging the Ford Ranger (4474), Toyota HiLux (4004) and newly-released and hybrid-only Toyota RAV4 (3865) to claim the number one spot.

Tesla’s best-ever sales month overall in Australia, the closest the Model Y has ever come to the top was in 2023 when the Chinese-built American mid-sized SUV reached number two.

Even with the Ranger’s PHEV models and HiLux’s new EV variants chipping in, both of these otherwise overwhelmingly diesel-biased utes saw sharp declines in demand last month, dropping by six and 19.1 per cent respectively year-on-year.

Coming in at number five last month was the Hyundai Kona (2291), while its Tucson big brother sprung up to number six (2287), propelled by well-received hybrid availability in both, as well as a widely-promoted EV option in the former.

The same applies to the Jaecoo J5 in seventh position (2172), and even one of Australia’s cheapest SUVs, the petrol-powered Chery Tiggo 4, was bolstered by an affordable hybrid alternative to land at number eight (2123).

In ninth and tenth places respectively were the Isuzu D-Max (1916) and Ford Everest (1876), with both diesel-only powered vehicles suffering from 20 per cent-plus declines year-on-year.

That rounds out the top 10 for May, but keep in mind that the next four positions in descending order were occupied by electrified models all on the way up.

These were the EV-only Geely EX5 (1814), hybrid-heavy Kia Sportage (1797) and GWM Haval Jolion (1674), and the all-electric BYD Sealion 7 (1538).

However, while fuel prices are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future, car companies expect that the surge in demand for EVs will begin to throttle back to near pre-Iran War levels.

As a reminder, back in February, EVs held nearly 12 per cent of the market.

This was also a record month, due to a number of lower-priced Chinese models from BYD, GAC, MG and Geely hitting the forecourts, combined with the aforementioned Federal Government tax break that make EVs Fringe Benefits Tax-exempt depending on price.

EV sales for May 2026