EVs hit nearly 20% market share! (with a caveat).
Looking at Q1, BEV sales records tumbled as we knew they would, having heard from dealers and OEMs what was happening around consumer sentiment amid the fuel cost spike.
Almost one-in-5 passenger cars and SUVs sold new in Australia in March 2026 were fully electric. The 19.8% market share captured by BEV passenger cars and SUVs equalled just under 16,000 sales, almost double March 2025’s tally.
Zooming out to the total market including diesel-dominated light commercials and the March BEV market share was 14.6%, and 11.8% over all of Q1. All time highs.
BEV sales for both the month and the quarter are running at almost double what they were last year over the same periods. Annualised, we’re looking at 130,000 to 140,000 new BEVs on the road in 2026.
This in turn means 130,000 to 140,000 BEVs entering the secondary market down the track, and given that about half of these are on a novated lease, within the next 4-5 years.
Fortunately for the market we are seeing used EV prices stabilise on the back of consumer and dealer demand, greater transparency around battery health, improving infrastructure, and a shallower improvement curve between generations of car.
If we then add plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), which are also growing, we see that BEV and PHEVs captured 22.1% total market share in March and 18.4% over Q1. This includes light commercials because PHEV utes are doing well.
It’s a sound lesson in just how rapidly the car market can change.
* Data combined from FCAI and EVC
