Australian Plugin Vehicle Sales, September Update — Are Mainstream Media Finally Waking Up?

Electric and plug-in hybrid cars kept gaining ground in Australia in September. Of 108,778 new vehicles delivered, about a third (36,000) came with a plug — roughly 24% fully electric and 9% plug-in hybrid. EV sales were up about 120% from a year earlier, while sales of gas and diesel cars fell. Plug-in hybrids (which run on both a battery you charge and a gas engine) jumped nearly 123% year over year.

The Tesla Model Y remained the top-selling electric model, followed closely by Chinese brands BYD, Geely, and Zeekr, all of which posted big sales gains. BYD has now passed Toyota for the number-two spot in overall EV sales and has sold more plug-in vehicles than Tesla so far this year. Chinese automakers now supply Australia with about twice as many cars as Japan does. A new battery-electric pickup truck, the MG MU9, has also launched, with early deliveries mostly going to dealers for test drives.

None of this changes rebate programs or incentives in the US, but it is a sign of how fast the electric vehicle market is shifting elsewhere, with battery-powered and plug-in hybrid models increasingly outselling traditional gas and diesel cars. If you are weighing an EV purchase alongside home upgrades like a heat pump or rooftop solar, it is one more data point suggesting that electric options are becoming more mainstream and more varied, not less.