Electric vehicles have outsold petrol-only cars in Australia for the third consecutive month, taking a 23.1 per cent share of the new vehicle market in October as sales of petrol and diesel vehicles continued to fall.

Combined figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and the Electric Vehicle Council show 24,845 battery electric vehicles were sold during October, ahead of 23,605 petrol vehicles, although behind diesel on 25,649.

That means Australians bought more than three times as many EVs as they did in October last year, when battery electric sales totalled 7,361 and accounted for just 7.3 per cent of the market. Petrol-only sales, meanwhile, fell 35.9 per cent compared with the same month last year. Diesel sales dropped 14.7 per cent.

October’s EV share was slightly below the 24.2 per cent reported in September, when electric cars also outsold both petrol and diesel vehicles. But it extends the run of months in which battery electric vehicles have accounted for more than one in five new vehicle purchases.

You can find the full breakdown of EV sales at The Driven’s Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026 – by model and by brand

The Tesla Model Y remained Australia’s best-selling EV, recording 3,105 sales, followed once again by the BYD Sealion 7 on 2,524.

One of the biggest moves came from the smaller BYD Atto 2, which more than doubled its September result to reach 1,943 sales and claim third place among electric models. It edged ahead of the Geely EX5, which recorded 1,789 sales, followed by the Jaecoo J5 on 1,714 and the Zeekr 7X on 1,441.

Source link