It’s shaping as much as be one other huge 12 months for electrification throughout Australia, pushed by aggressive value drops and a critical inflow of charging infrastructure.
JET Cost has simply unpacked the most recent shopper gross sales knowledge, uncovering the traits that outlined final 12 months and forming some daring predictions for the street forward in 2026.
The 2025 recap reveals the EV market comfortably exceeded trade forecasting, rising 38% from the earlier 12 months with a complete of 156,958 electrical autos bought. This progress was primarily fueled by elevated purchaser selection and price reductions, with the Medium SUV and Ute segments doing the heavy lifting for the trade.
Mid-sized SUVs presently signify the vast majority of EV gross sales and function a crystal ball for our electrical future, with section share leaping from 16% to 27% in simply twelve months. This surge is thanks to an enormous enhance in selection, with 45 fashions accessible in 2025 in comparison with simply 30 within the 12 months prior.
The worth hole on this class is narrowing shortly, with the EV premium for Medium SUVs now sitting at a comparatively slim 18-22% in comparison with their petrol counterparts. This makes the bounce to electrical rather more palatable for households seeking to improve their major car with out a huge monetary hurdle.
Maybe the largest shock was the emergence of electrical Utes, which turned the second-largest section in 2025. Gross sales on this class skyrocketed from a tiny 362 items in 2024 to a staggering 20,622 items in 2025, capturing round 8% of the general section.
This cost was largely led by the success of the BYD Shark, which has shortly asserted its dominance (Be aware: Jet Cost embrace Hybrids of their EV definition, techAU doesn’t). It completed the 12 months because the 4th highest-selling ute total with a 7% market share, proving that Australian tradies and weekend warriors are able to plug in.
Small SUVs maintained their market share, however progress right here remains to be being hampered by a value premium of 40-45%. This section is extremely price-sensitive, and these autos are much less standard with novated leasing prospects who sometimes hunt for the Fringe Advantages Tax (FBT) exemption.
Apparently, small passenger autos truly went backwards as patrons appeared for extra certainty in a difficult financial setting. The Medium Passenger section additionally noticed a decline, principally because of a shift in purchaser desire away from the beforehand dominant Tesla Mannequin 3.
The New Car Effectivity Normal (NVES) and FBT exemptions are clearly steering the market towards bigger electrified autos. Producers are prioritising the electrification of bigger fashions to scale back their NVES legal responsibility, which aligns completely with the place the novated leasing demand sits.
Waiting for the 2026 forecast
Medium SUVs will proceed to drive the majority of EV gross sales in 2026 as a result of mixture of mannequin selection and nearing value parity. This aggressive setting is forcing producers to be extra aggressive with their choices, which is nice information for the patron.
“That is each the largest story of the EV market proper now and the place the remainder of the EV market must get to – a extremely aggressive market of EV choices with an more and more slender value hole to non-EV alternate options,”
Kristian Handberg, Head of Future Enterprise, JET Cost.
The economics of proudly owning an EV have by no means appeared higher for the typical Australian. Many passenger autos, SUVs, and light-weight industrial vans have now reached price parity with inner combustion engine (ICE) autos on a whole-of-life foundation.
Since 2022, a number of high-volume EV fashions have seen value reductions of 20% to 40%, with some even dropping under the $30,000 mark. Take the BYD Atto 1, for instance, which sells for A$23,990 plus on-roads, making it roughly A$27,000 drive-away.
That places it proper in the identical dialog as a Toyota Yaris, Mazda 2, or Suzuki Swift. Whereas upfront prices can nonetheless differ, the financial savings in gas, upkeep, and servicing shortly offset the preliminary funding for many drivers.
This financial actuality is predicted to drive a large-scale adoption of EV fleets as firms get up to the bottom-line advantages. Fleet managers are more and more trying on the long-term knowledge quite than simply the preliminary sticker value.
“It’s time for the EV market to go mainstream and the following twelve months will set the tempo for the transition. With electrical choices for everybody and the acquisition value hole reducing, the whole-of-life price argument ought to make the selection simple for any driver, and most significantly, for fleet managers,”
Kristian Handberg, Head of Future Enterprise, JET Cost.
The work left to do
Even with this momentum, reaching the Australian Power Market Operator’s “Slower Development” goal of 240,000 gross sales in 2026 shall be a problem. The Federal Authorities’s stance on FBT exemptions would be the final decider in whether or not we keep on observe for our 2035 emissions targets.
JET Cost forecasts gross sales of roughly 195,000 new EVs in 2026, reaching a 15% market share. With out that incentive, these numbers are predicted to stall at round 167,000 items and a 13% market share.
Nonetheless, two main trade strikes are anticipated to supply a tailwind no matter authorities coverage. We predict a speedy surge in public charging installations throughout each metro and freeway areas as property builders realise there may be revenue to be made.
Extra chargers on the street will lastly begin to dismantle the vary nervousness misconceptions that also linger in some components of the nation. This infrastructure progress is important for convincing the following wave of adopters that an EV can deal with a street journey.
Secondly, the transition of company fleets will speed up as the entire price of possession (TCO) turns into unattainable for managers to disregard. As soon as the large gamers transfer, the second-hand market will finally profit from a gradual provide of well-maintained autos.
The movers and shakers of 2026
BYD is tipped to stay the general EV gross sales chief in Australia by way of 2026. For the primary time, they’re anticipated to carry the crown for the highest-selling particular person mannequin with both the Sealion 7 or the Shark 6.
There are a number of different heavy hitters getting into the world this 12 months that may seemingly change the panorama of our roads. The Toyota Hilux BEV is maybe probably the most anticipated arrival, marking Toyota’s first totally electrical model of Australia’s favorite workhorse.
Given Toyota’s huge supplier community and robust resale worth, this shall be a large deal for fleet patrons and regional operators. It represents a major shift for a model that has historically been slower to embrace full electrification.
The Kia EV4 is one other one to observe, concentrating on fleet patrons who nonetheless choose a passenger car over a high-riding SUV. Hyundai can even be aggressive with the Elexio, a Medium SUV designed for households that balances vary with on a regular basis practicality.
The Elexio might profit considerably from its Chinese language construct origins, permitting Hyundai to maintain pricing extremely aggressive. Different main contenders embrace the Xpeng G6, the Kia PV5 van, and the Geely EX2 small hatchback.
These new entrants will make sure that regardless of your finances or your use case, there may be seemingly an electrical possibility that stacks up financially. The period of the EV tax is quickly coming to an finish, changed by a market the place the electrical selection is just the logical one.
For extra info, head to https://jetcharge.com.au
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