Sales of new electric cars will increase by 59 percent in 2020

The popularity of battery-powered cars is increasing, government data show.

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The federal government announced that a total of 20,095 electric cars were registered in 2020, compared to 12,651 in 2019.

While the data includes plug-in hybrids (PHEV) and all-electric vehicles, it provides the most accurate snapshot of this segment as market leader Tesla withholds its sales data from the industry’s monthly VFACTS reports.

However, figures obtained solely from Drive in January 2021 showed that Tesla sold 3,430 vehicles in the 2020 calendar year.

The Australian Tesla tracking outlet VedaPrime recently reported that the electric car manufacturer brought around 4,200 models of the Model 3 into the country in 2021 alone – 40 percent more than were imported in all of 2020.

VedaPrime told Drive that Tesla is expected to exceed more than 10,000 imports this year.

The current VFACTS report of the Federal Chamber of the Automotive Industry from June shows that sales of fully electric cars have risen to 858 since the beginning of the year, which corresponds to an increase of 107 percent compared to the same point in the previous year.

The plug-in hybrid models grew by 15 percent in the same period.

Ben Zachariah is a veteran Melbourne-based auto writer and journalist who has worked in the automotive industry for more than 15 years. Ben was previously a truck driver on the Autobahn and completed his MBA in 2021. Ben began publishing car reviews and opinion pieces before being named Motoring Editor for an online lifestyle magazine. For the past 15 years he has worked in various marketing and communication functions in the automotive industry and has freelanced for various publications on the subjects of cars and watches. Ben is considered an expert in classic car investments who share his love for finance, macroeconomics and everything to do with automobiles. Ben lives in Melbourne and enjoys music, road trips and the great outdoors.

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