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Sales of electric cars have broken records again, thanks to the growth of BYD, Zeekr, and an unprecedented number of other new brands – most from China.
Electric Cars
More than 100,000 electric vehicles have been reported as sold in Australia in a calendar year for the first time, amid a wave of new entrants from China driving battery-electric sales to record highs.
It is despite a 25 per cent slump for Tesla, which sold more electric cars in Australia last year than any other manufacturer, but was pulled down by a 61 per cent decline for the Model 3 sedan.
Include heavy-commercial vehicles such as trucks and large vans, and the 2025 total creeps up to 103,474 – compared to 91,495 in 2024.
The data does not include sales from XPeng, Smart and Cadillac, which do not share their results locally, but it is understood that XPeng registered about 2000 cars last year.
Electric-car sales have far outpaced the broader new-vehicle market, which was only up 0.3 per cent in 2025 – according to FCAI and EVC data – amid a tougher year for the top-selling Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Toyota RAV4.
Tesla remained the top seller of electric vehicles, reporting 28,856 registrations in 2025, but the brand was down 24.8 per cent compared to 2024's 38,347, let alone its record result of more than 46,000 in 2023.
Combined with increased competition, the US giant's share of the EV market has dropped to 27.9 per cent, from 41.9 per cent in 2024, 52.9 per cent in 2023, and 59 per cent in 2022.
The Tesla Model Y was the top-selling electric car in 2025, clocking up 22,239 registrations, but it was only up 4.6 per cent year-on-year, despite the arrival of a heavily-updated version mid-year.
Pulling the brand down was a sharp decline for the Model 3 electric sedan, which dropped 61.3 per cent to 6617 registrations – its worst performance since 2020.
It allowed the BYD Sealion 7 (13,410 sales) to become the country's second-best-selling electric vehicle – despite only launching in February – with fourth and fifth places taken by the Kia EV5 (4787, up 168 per cent) and new Geely EX5 (3944) respectively.
BYD sold fewer electric cars in Australia last year than Tesla – at 25,287 against 28,856 – but the arrival of new models such as the Atto 1 and Atto 2, combined with the continued popularity of the Sealion 7, places it in a prime position for 2026.
Kia is now the country's third-biggest seller of electric vehicles – reporting 8131 deliveries last year, up 125 per cent, led by the EV5 and EV3 (2597) – bumping MG to fourth position (6447 vehicles, down 21.8 per cent).
Among the models reporting the highest growth – excluding those launched in the final weeks of 2024 – are the Skoda Enyaq (382, up 696 per cent), Polestar 3 (332 sales, up 368 per cent), and Chery E5 (868, up 341 per cent).
The Zeekr 7X has already reported 1206 deliveries from two and a half months of sales, enough to place it 15th on the overall list.
Electric Cars Guide
Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
