May EV sales 2024: Market recovery amid price cuts 

The latest figures from Vfacts saw 8974 EVs sold in Australia, accounting for 8.4 per cent of the market. This was up from 6.4 per cent dip in April that saw numerous outlets report that the EV market is falling apart. 

In fact, BYD sold 1914 EVs – record numbers for the brand in Australia so far, claiming 21 per cent of the market.

In May, Tesla sold 3567 vehicles, jumping up from 34 per cent EV market share in May to 40 per cent of market. While it’s a far cry from the September 2022 highs of 82 per cent when the Tesla Model Y arrived, the US EV maker is still selling double that of its competitors and stayed (just) in the top ten brands of the broader market.

MG sold 686 EVs, making up 7.6 per cent, while Volvo sold 606 EVs - 6.7 per cent of the EV market and 59 per cent of its own brand sales as it aims for 100 per cent EVs by 2026. A closer look at month-to-month sales over the past two years shows significant fluctuations in deliveries of EVs (and therefore sales) to drivers.

 

With Tesla accounting for most of the market it’s easy to see the fluctuations following Tesla shipping patterns – something that may well change as other brands sell more EVs, aiming to reduce their fleet emissions after the introduction of the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard on 1 January 2025.

The Tesla Model Y remains the top seller for the year-to-date with 9565 sales in total, but it was the Tesla Model 3 that took out the number one position for May, with 1958 sales.

BYD continued to put in a good show with 1002 sales of its BYD Seal – its best month yet - and 737 BYD Atto 3 sales (third and fourth best sellers respectively.) BYD also sold 157 BYD Dolphins.

The MG MG4 also remains a popular choice with 565 units sold in May, putting it in at number five. 

In the ACT, EVs took out almost 24 per cent of the market, bouncing back from a (relative) low of 17.2 per cent in April.

NSW sales were also up, but are not back to pre-April levels yet. This brought the year-to-date share down two points to 8.4 per cent, which is still higher than other states (excluding the ACT, of course.)

Queensland, which is one of the few states that still has purchase incentives in place, saw a rebound to 9.2 per cent of the market. Sadly, the same could not be said for Western Australia, which has just extended its EV incentives. Though sales were higher than April, they did not beat February’s high of 1233 deliveries for the month.