Battery electric vehicles only achieved a 5.9% penetration of the new vehicle market in Australia in August. This is 5,892 out of 100,786 total light vehicles sold. It was 6,743 in July. Perhaps it’s time to admit that there is a slowdown and a pivot to PHEVs. Strangely, the more the BEV market reduces in Australia, the more I see positive news stories about electric vehicles in my news stream.
Over the ditch, in New Zealand, August’s numbers are almost identical to July’s. They are having their own version of Groundhog Day, but at least they are not going backwards like their Australian cousins. James fromtells me that a lot of demonstration models hit the roads this year but don’t show in the numbers, as they were registered last year. The big news is the bargains that are now available — Nissan NZ is now selling the LEAF at NZ$29,990 — for a brand new 2024 model.
Of the scores of comments, only a couple were derisive of EVs. The vast majority attempted to set the record straight — like this one for example: