Electric car prices in Australia now match petrol models in popular segments

2025 Geely EX5

Electric vehicles (EVs) have long had a price premium due to the cost of manufacturing their batteries, but now – for the first time – tailpipe emissions-free nameplates have come down to match petrol offerings.

While the MG 4 was among the first to drop its price last year, offered with a significantly reduced price of $30,990 drive-away for a limited time from September – matching, or even undercutting, similarly-sized models like the Toyota Corolla, Mazda 3, Volkswagen Golf and more – it is only now where a mid-size electric SUV has done the same.

BYD has also come to the table this year, offering Essential grades of its Dolphin hatchback and Atto 3 small SUV, priced under $30,000 and $40,000 respectively.

BYD Dolphin

Of course, there is always the Tesla Model 3, priced from $54,900 plus on-road costs, and BYD Seal, now from $46,990, for those after a traditional four-door sedan.

This gives buyers an all-electric choice in the small SUV, mid-size SUV, mid-size sedan, and small hatchback segments priced around or under rivals with petrol engines.

And while some of these all-electric offerings don't start under segment-leading models, they are close.

So close in fact, that when you start to move up the variant tree to get features you want, a base EV could be more affordable and still have the desirable features you are after.

BYD Seal

For reference, those four aforementioned segments of the market accounted for 467,062 sales out of a total of 1,237,287 last year, or around 38 per cent of the overall market.

Of course, electric options in the large SUV segment, off-road SUV market, and one-tonne ute category are still lagging behind petrol and diesel choices on price, due to all-electric models of that ilk being harder to justify in their use cases.

But with the market maturing, it might only be a matter of time before we see affordable, all-electric options pop up everywhere.

Electric Cars Guide

Tung Nguyen has been in the automotive journalism industry for over a decade, cutting his teeth at various publications before finding himself at Drive in 2024. With experience in news, feature, review, and advice writing, as well as video presentation skills, Tung is a do-it-all content creator. Tung’s love of cars first started as a child watching Transformers on Saturday mornings, as well as countless hours on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo, meaning his dream car is a Nissan GT-R, with a Liberty Walk widebody kit, of course.

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