Australia Achieves 12% Plugins in May

The overall Australian auto market continues to be buoyant, with 109,425 light vehicles sold in May 2025. Of this number, 12% had plugs. A total of 10,065 battery electric cars (BEV) were sold (9.2% of the market) and 3,081 plugin hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) were sold (2.8% of the market). In the first five months of 2025, 33,976 EVs have been delivered, compared to 40,966 in the first five months of 2024. It is hoped that the resurgence of Model Y deliveries, coupled with the continuous launch of new EV models, will make up the difference in the months to come.

In a recent report from Rho Motion on global plugin electric vehicle take-up, at the bottom of the list, we find “Rest of the World” (ROW). 600,000 plugin vehicles sold in ROW in May. This is presented as a 36% growth year on year. Australia is proud to be part of that. Although, our growth rate is lagging others in this category. According to Rho Motion, global EV sales are growing at almost 30% a year. That should mean an annual sales figure for 2025 in excess of 23 million units.

PHEV sales in Australia have been influenced by two major government policies. In April, sales were up as businesses seized the window of opportunity to avoid Fringe Benefits Tax. 6,932 PHEVs were sold in April. In May, that number was reduced to 3,081. Most of these were BYD’s Shark 6 and Sealion 6. However, with the impending “new vehicle efficiency standard (NVES), these plug-in hybrids are crucial for commercial vehicle-heavy carmakers to lower cumulative CO2 emissions. In Ford’s case, the Ranger plug-in hybrid will need to do a lot of heavy lifting — so it better be successful.” More on that later.

The ten best sellers on the BEV market in May 2025 were … (drum roll):

1. Tesla Model Y — 3,580 | year to date — 6,974
2. Kia EV5 — 703 | year to date — 2,212
3. Geely EX5 — 511 | year to date — 1,023
4. BYD Sealion 7 — 488 | year to date — 1,961
5. BYD Seal — 355 | year to date — 982
6. BYD Dolphin — 345 | year to date — 776
7. BYD Atto 3 — 322 | year to date — 1,278
8. MG MG4 — 319 | year to date — 2,017
9. Tesla Model 3 — 317
10. Kia EV3 — 310 | year to date — 832

The ship has certainly and literally come in for the Model Y — up from only 280 sales in April. Half of the 2025 Model Y sales were delivered in May! It is worth noting that two of the top 5 have only recently been released to the market — the Kia EV 5 and the Geely EX 5. Just off the chart are the MGS5 with 106 sales and the Hyundai Inster with 101 sales. We had a chance to check out the Inster and are looking forward to spending some time with the new MGS5 and the Deepal SO 7. There is still no data coming through about sales of the Xpeng G6, but we have been seeing them on the roads for the past few months.

Professor Ray Wills of the University of Western Australia commented on X recently that “Australian electric vehicle sales have completed the groundwork for the step change to double-digit share of sales. ICE vehicles share of sales continues to decline. Australia and the rest of the world that’s not the US will see cheaper EVs arriving by year’s end, and then greater surges in 2026 as China’s production continues to ramp, and Europe makes deals with China for manufacturing in Europe,” he predicts. He shared some very revealing graphs to back up his assertions.

HEV sales continue to increase in Australia, with 17,089 sold in May 2025, mostly Toyotas. As Toyota pivots to battery-electric cars in China, I would expect that those vehicles will be exported to Australia and further supercharge the BEV take-up. In May 2025, Toyota sold 371 BZ4X and Subaru sold 111 Solterra — just a little piggy toehold in the market.

With the massive surge of the Tesla Model Y (3,580), it is no surprise that the electric SUV came fourth overall in the Australian market, behind the Toyota Hilux (4,952), Ford Ranger (4,761), and Toyota RAV4 (4,003). Aussies love their utes. Plenty of market there for the Cybertruck to disrupt! The BYD PHEV Shark continues to nibble, with 1,300 sales in May. We are seeing them on the roads more and more often, and even charged next to one on our recent trip to the Waterfall Way — stay tuned for an article on this.

Great Wall Motors is launching a PHEV ute with 115 km of range to challenge the Shark’s current dominance. The GWM Canon Alpha is being compared positively to the PHEV Ranger. Next to China’s offerings, the Ford Ranger PHEV effort looks pretty pathetic — less range, worse specs, and much higher price. Let the battle begin.

Apparently, Ford’s “most senior global product executive has declared the decision to prioritise towing and payload specs for the Ranger PHEV to be the correct one, with the Detroit-based Jim Baumbick telling Chasing Cars that outright electric range and system power are lower in the priority order.”

In summary, the BYD Shark 06 has an electric range of approximately 100 km at a cost of AU$58,000; the GWM Canon Alpha has 110 km of range and costs AU$64,000; and the Ford Ranger PHEV costs AU$72,000 with 49 km range. I believe that the range estimates are generous. The Ford warranty period is only 5 years less than the warranty for the Shark and the GWM Canon. For a more detailed analysis, see here. Or, watch the video here. Now we await the verdict of the buying public.

Speculation continues about the availability of the Tesla Cybertruck Down Under. Recent comments by Thom Drew, Country Director for Tesla Australia, suggest that a debut is close. The Cybertruck has been on a tour of Australian cities over the past twelve months. The public are certainly primed to buy.

In order to sell the Cybertruck in Australia, Tesla must meet the Australian Design Rules. The verdict is that there would not need to be many modifications. “There are small changes to bumper widths, some external lighting requirements, and obviously left to right-hand drive, and just a few engineering changes like that, but fundamentally it’d be the same vehicle.” The Cybertruck would then be priced an extra AU$5,000 to AU$10,000.

And, just to finish off — are there enough chargers to meet the needs of all these electric vehicles that will be swarming on Australian roads? The answer is yes — charging is being built out at a phenomenal rate. I will offer two examples. Australia’s largest hardware chain, Bunnings, is installing EV chargers at their stores (they have hundreds). So far, 14 have been installed.

Australia has two main transport highways from Brisbane to Sydney — the Pacific and the New England Highways. The Pacific Highway has plenty of public high-speed chargers. Until recently, it was more problematic to drive and charge an EV down the New England Highway. On our recent trip from Brisbane to the Waterfall Way, we were amazed at the change. High-speed chargers were abundant, and more were being built.

The ROW is doing its part to make sure that the future is bright and electric!