Electric vehicle sales in Australia reach record in May

Electric vehicle sales in Australia reached a new monthly record in May, with one in five new vehicles sold being an electric vehicle. Nearly half of all new vehicles sold last month were either an electric vehicle, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid. Sales of petrol and diesel SUVs fell 31 percent and 41 percent respectively, while plug-in hybrid SUV sales rose 377 percent.

Chamber of Automotive Industries said consumer preferences are changing rapidly in the SUV segment. The same executive added that charging infrastructure must become more of a priority as the number of electric vehicles on the road grows. Rising sales of electric vehicles have been driven in part by an influx of cheaper cars from Chinese companies.

Almost 5,000 vehicles from one such company arrived in Melbourne this week, the first shipment of almost 30,000 vehicles the company will send to Australia in the coming months. A chief operating officer of the company said most cars in the first shipment were sold after the war in Iran started.

The same officer noted a significant surge in demand for electric vehicles in March when the war broke out in the Middle East.

Security and policy concerns The company has sold 120,000 vehicles, both electric and petrol-powered, since launching in Australia in 2022 and now has more than 100 dealerships. Like other Chinese companies, the company has faced suspicion from consumers and politicians due to cybersecurity concerns related to technology in its vehicles.

A professor from the Australia-China Relations Institute said there were genuine cybersecurity and data-governance issues related to smart vehicles but noted these are not unique to Chinese brands. The professor added that the real policy question is how Australia regulates data storage, software access, telematics, procurement standards and auditability across all connected vehicles.