Australia is falling behind on achieving the electric vehicle (EV) uptake required to meet government emissions reduction targets, industry body EV Council (EVC) warned, although it is no longer a "global laggard".
The country's passenger EV fleet is estimated to have exceeded 410,000 units in September, according to EVC's latest report on 14 October. But the country will need over 50pc of all new car sales to be EVs by 2030. Conservative estimates of the share of EVs in the country's car sales are around 11.4-12.3pc in 2025, with June hitting an all-time high of 16pc, said EVC.
The body advocates for a national target of 1mn EVs by the end of 2027, it said, adding that the country needs around 240,000 EV additions in 2026 and 320,000 EVs in 2027.
"We're calling on the government to set EV targets and a date for a ban on petrol and diesel registrations, like the UK and France," said EVC. "We're also calling for more incentives to get Australians behind the wheel of electric cars and trucks including goods and services tax (GST) exemptions and energy bill credits."
Australia last month set its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target for 2035, looking to shave emissions by 62-70pc from 2005 levels.
Over 150 EV models are now available in the country, and EVC applauded the country's New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES), which came into force this year. The selection has given drivers "genuine choice" in the market, it said, although EV demand still suffers from "consumer hesitancy" and "misinformation".
Any backtracking on policy incentives before at least 30pc EV penetration would be "premature", said the body. A report by the government's economic research and advisory body the Productivity Commission (PC) earlier in 2025 recommended the country's governments — including the state and territory governments — to phase out EV-specific exemptions and discounts to "eliminate policy overlaps", in light of NVES.
The PC report recommended the introduction of a new emissions-reduction "technology-neutral" incentive for heavy vehicles, to be phased in over several years and applicable to heavy vehicles that use low-carbon liquid fuels or cut emissions in by other methods.
But EVC does not agree with this move. "No country has reached mass EV adoption without sustained government support so withdrawing it now risks stalling the momentum we desperately need," EVC said.
An upcoming road user tax will also hit EV drivers in the country, although the federal Labor government has not yet committed to a timeline.
Australia's new car sales totalled around 608,800 units in January-June, down by 3.7pc on the year, according to its car industry body Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI). EV sales came in at nearly 72,760 units in the first half of 2025, higher by 14,000 units from a year earlier, according to EVC.
