{"id":556233,"date":"2026-03-22T03:53:20","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:53:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556233\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T03:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T03:53:20","slug":"soaring-fuel-prices-see-spike-in-ev-interest-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/556233\/","title":{"rendered":"Soaring fuel prices see spike in EV interest in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

As fuel prices soar amid the Iran war and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, electric vehicle makers are reporting a surge in interest.<\/p>\n

Angela, from Melbourne’s east, is among three generations of her family keen to make the switch.<\/p>\n

“It is always something we were interested in, but lately high fuel prices have really pushed us to seriously consider it,” she said.<\/p>\n

Her mother and grandmother agree that it’s worth the investment.<\/p>\n

“I’m old and don’t want to drive much, but I encourage them to buy one,” her grandmother, Kim, said.<\/p>\n

Farmers look to the Sun as oil prices pinch\"An<\/p>\n

Nigel is among those looking to save on the costs of running a vehicle. (ABC News: Lachlan Bennett)<\/p>\n

Nigel, a farmer from regional Victoria, recently checked out EVs for the first time after his son purchased one.<\/p>\n

“There are 11 vehicles on the farm, and we go through a lot of fuel,” he said.<\/p>\n

“I’m thinking of getting some solar panels [for] charging up the vehicle \u2014 spending around $100 a year on running the car.”<\/p>\n

Since the blockade of the key Strait of Hormuz shipping route, crude oil has soared past the $US100 a barrel mark.<\/p>\n

Some experts predict prices could soon exceed $US150 ($213).<\/p>\n

Sudden jump in EV sales\"An<\/p>\n

Australia has one of the lowest electric vehicle-adoption rates among developed nations. (ABC News: Ben Deacon)<\/p>\n

Two top-selling Chinese automakers in Australia said sales had increased significantly for electric and hybrid cars since the fuel crisis began.<\/p>\n

Paul Ellis, a spokesman for BYD, said the jump was likely due to a combination of rising fuel costs, inflation and interest rates.<\/p>\n

“Electric vehicles always make sense, but they are making more sense now because people can see the financial benefits,” Mr Ellis said.<\/p>\n

John Kett, chief operating officer for Great Wall Motor (GWM) Australia, said it was also seeing a spike in interest.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

John Kett says there has been a spike in interest for cars made by his company, GWM. (ABC News: Lachlan Bennett)<\/p>\n

“We’ve seen a rapid increase in electric and hybrid vehicle sales,” Mr Kett told the ABC.<\/p>\n

The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows electric vehicles accounted for 11.8 per cent of total sales in Australia in February, marking a record monthly market share.<\/p>\n

Sales of plug-in hybrid vehicles and the Tesla Model Y also saw strong growth, rising by more than 20 per cent month-on-month.<\/p>\n

However, FCAI chief executive Tony Weber said overall EV uptake in Australia remained relatively low, around 2 per cent of all cars on the road.<\/p>\n

“If you look at 2025 sales of EVs, they’re at 8.3 per cent. That’s only grown by 1.1 percentage points since 2023 \u2014 much slower than we had hoped,” he said.<\/p>\n

“The first two months of this year have been encouraging. It shows we’re heading in the right direction.”<\/p>\n

Attitudes towards Chinese EVs shifting<\/p>\n

Tapan Patel, a business development manager in Melbourne, said he had been thinking about a green shift for some time.<\/p>\n

“The first thing is you’re saving money on petrol,” he said, describing how rising living costs pushed him to consider an EV when looking for a second car for his family.<\/p>\n

He said he was particularly interested in Chinese brands.<\/p>\n

“Considering BYD has been making batteries for years and years \u2026 I trusted them,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Other companies don’t have a long history of what they’re creating and whether it’s going to last long.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Paul Ellis from BYD says there are a range of reasons why EV sales are jumping. (ABC News: Lachlan Bennett)<\/p>\n

Earlier this month, BYD announced its “second-generation blade battery” technology, saying it could be charged from 10 per cent to 70 per cent in just 5 minutes.<\/p>\n

Industry insiders say the technology will soon reach overseas markets.<\/p>\n

Although the company has yet to confirm if the new battery will be coming to Australia, analysts said the technology could reshape the trajectory of EV adoption.<\/p>\n

Mr Patel’s decision to go with a Chinese maker reflected a broader shift in perceptions.<\/p>\n

“In the past 15, 20 years they have changed their image.”<\/p>\n

\"People<\/p>\n

Chinese automaker BYD entered the Australian market in 2022 and is now the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.
\n\u00a0 (Reuters: Nick Carey)<\/p>\n

A record-breaking month for Chinese cars<\/p>\n

Last month, China overtook Japan for the first time as Australia’s largest source of new cars in a single month.<\/p>\n

Since 2020, more than 10 new Chinese car brands have entered the Australian market, with six launching in the past two years.<\/p>\n

In the 12 months to February, four Chinese brands ranked among Australia’s top 10 sellers: BYD (6th), GWM (7th), Chery (9th) and MG (10th).<\/p>\n

Mr Kett from GWM said rising fuel prices were just one factor driving demand.<\/p>\n

“Cost-of-living pressures are also pushing consumers towards more affordable vehicles,” he said.<\/p>\n

He believes Chinese brands are well-placed to benefit from that shift.<\/p>\n

Australia a testing ground for Western markets\"A<\/p>\n

EV sales in Australia are increasing. (AP: Jeff Chiu)<\/p>\n

As Australian consumers look for relief at the pump, Beijing is doubling down on its manufacturing strategy.<\/p>\n

However, some experts believe its EV industry faces several challenges.<\/p>\n

Tu Le, founder of Sino Auto Insights, said cut-throat competition in China was forcing brands to look to places such as Australia as a “pressure release valve”.<\/p>\n

Australia is one of a handful of markets with nearly no tariffs and quotas, which gives way to strong profit margins.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Chinese automotive industry expert Tu Le says Chinese automakers are treating overseas markets as a “pressure relief valve”. (supplied)<\/p>\n

Mr Le believes Chinese automakers are also using Australia as a testing ground for breaking into Western markets for SUVs and utes given the love of those vehicles here.<\/p>\n

However, the road ahead isn’t without friction.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned new entrants to the Australian market against cutting corners, calling out “unfair practices” by some manufacturers.<\/p>\n

“We want to make it clear that companies new to the Australian market … also have to meet standards around service, not rely on [sales] volume alone,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Anthony Albanese has warned car makers not to take shortcuts. (ABC News: Che Chorley)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As fuel prices soar amid the Iran war and blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, electric vehicle makers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556234,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99,27308,82874,512,274716,274715,56094,11214,7569,130870,84500,66609,5575,941,27315,3122],"class_list":["post-556233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business","tag-byd","tag-chery","tag-china","tag-e-vehicle-sales","tag-electric-car-sales","tag-electric-cars","tag-electric-vehicles","tag-evs","tag-fuel-prices","tag-great-wall-motor","tag-gwm","tag-iran","tag-japan","tag-mg","tag-tesla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556233\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556234"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}