Over the past 3 years, Australian’s intentions to purchase an electric vehicle has flatlined despite new EV brands coming into the market at cheaper prices with declines found in regional Australia.
The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) has surveyed Australian drivers annually since 2022 to understand their intention to purchase an EV, helping new car dealers respond to changing consumer demand.
The latest survey shows that, despite three consecutive years of growth in the overall new car market, intention to purchase an electric vehicle as a main car has remained unchanged. This is despite the entry of new EV brands at lower price points and the introduction of government incentives designed to accelerate EV uptake.
The consumer survey also found that there has been a national decline in intention to purchase an electric vehicle in regional and rural Australia. This is a significant finding backing up direct evidence from new car dealers of the reluctance of regional drivers to make the transition to electric vehicles.
“Our members are committed to supporting Australia’s transition to lower-emissions vehicles and want to meet Australian driver’s needs,” said AADA CEO James Voortman. “However new car dealers are not yet seeing a significant increase in the number of consumers intending to purchase an EV at the scale required.”
In 2025 the Government released the Climate Change Authority’s modelling for Australia to meet its 2035 emissions targets. A significant part of that modelling was the reliance of Australians buying electric vehicles, with 50 per cent of all new car sales every year to 2035 needing to be electric. Based upon the results from the fourth edition of this survey, this will be challenging.
However, there are positive indicators where there is an increase in consumers’ intention to purchase a hybrid or plug in hybrid electric vehicle which is also demonstrated in recent sales data.
“What we are seeing is the automotive transition is happening but at the pace of the consumers choosing,” said Mr Voortman.