A survey commissioned by Australian Automobile Dealers Association (AADA) claims that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) will be “stagnant” in 2025 despite EV market share gains.
The survey of 2,000 Australian motorists, commissioned by the peak body for car dealers in Australia and conducted in November 2025 by Melbourne-based Zing Insights, found 38 per cent of respondents intend to purchase an electric vehicle as their next primary new car purchase.
This number is unchanged from the 2022 AADA survey and one percentage point lower than the 2024 result (39 percent).
“Our members are committed to supporting Australia’s transition to lower-emission vehicles and want to meet the needs of Australian drivers,” AADA chief executive James Voortman said in a media release.
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“However, new car dealers are not yet seeing a significant increase in the number of consumers intending to purchase an electric vehicle to the extent required.”
Despite this, Australians bought more new electric vehicles in 2025 than ever before. There were 103,269 sales recorded for the full calendar year, an increase of 13.1 percent compared to the previous year.
As a result, the share of electric vehicles in all new vehicles sold in 2025 rose from 7.4 percent in 2024 to 8.3 percent.
This growth outpaced the broader new car market, which grew a modest 0.3 percent over the same period.
Despite lower annual sales, Tesla remained the best-selling electric vehicle brand in Australia in 2025, with the Tesla Model Y SUV the most popular electric vehicle model ahead of the BYD Sealion 7 SUV and Tesla Model 3.
The AADA survey, officially titled Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Insights Report, Wave 4 (November 2025).found that the main reason for purchasing electric vehicles in Australia remained the perception that they were better for the environment.
Secondary motivations included electric vehicles that “represent the future” and offer lower operating costs compared to internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Barriers to purchasing a vehicle cited by respondents included higher showroom prices, lack of access to home chargers for some buyers and broader concerns about public charging infrastructure.
Overall, the AADA study states, “Intention to use electric vehicles now depends less on environmental benefits and is increasingly focused on financial benefits for the driver.”
Electric vehicle prices have continued to fall in Australia, with the BYD Atto 1 electric hatch now priced at $23,990 (excluding on-road costs), making it the cheapest electric vehicle in local showrooms.
Just 12 months ago, the slightly larger BYD Dolphin Hatch was Australia’s cheapest electric vehicle at $32,138 per car.
“What we see is that change in the automotive sector is accelerating, but at the pace at which consumers choose,” Mr Voortman said.
That view is shared by some carmakers, including Volvo Australia, whose chief executive Stephen Connor said Daily Sparkz The decision to scale back the purely electric car plans locally was customer-oriented.
“It’s a consumer-focused strategy now, as opposed to an OEM strategy… but we’ll still get there, it’s just a matter of when,” he said.
MORE: Australia’s best-selling electric vehicles in 2025 revealed
