EVs outsell petrol cars for second straight month in Australia, taking 24.2% of September sales

The surge in interest in electric cars continues, with EVs grabbing a 24.2 per cent share of the Australian new car market in September, just short of August’s record of 24.8 per cent, but the second consecutive month when EVs accounted for nearly one in four new car sales.

Data released on Tuesday by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries showed the overall new car market is growing – albeit at less than one per cent up from the previous year, but the big surge is in electric cars which beat petrol cars for the second month in a row.

FCAI acting chief executive Dianne O’Hara said in a statement the result showed that the shift towards electrified vehicles was being sustained. So far in 2026, full battery electric vehicles represent 18.9 per cent of the entire market, compared with 8.1 per cent at the same time in 2025.

The Model Y remained the best selling EV in September, with 4,476 sales, but lost its place at the top of the overall new car market to the Ford Ranger, and was also overtaken by the Toyota Rav4.

The next best-selling EV was the BYD Sealion 7, with 2,687 sales, and the Geely EX 5 with 2,008. Geely also performed strongly with its new EX2, which generated 1,211 sales. And ss we reported last week, the Tesla Model 3 had another strong month with 1,178 sales after performing poorly earlier in the year.

Last week the Electric Vehicle Council revealed that Tesla sold a total of 5,654 EVs in September. They made clear it was not the usual end-of-quarter burst in sales that characterise Tesla data, largely due to different delivery schedules in a rapidly changing market.

• Australia’s best selling EVs in September
• Tesla Model Y – 4,476
• BYD Sealion 7 – 2,687
• Geely EX5 – 2,008  
• Omoda Jaecoo J5 -1,754
• Geely EX2 – 1,211
• Tesla Model 3 – 1,178
• NG4 Urban – 735
• BYD Atto 1 – 633

You can find the full breakdown of EV sales at The Driven’s Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026 – by model and by brand

This story is being updated. More to come

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