Electric vehicles Australia: New record market share of 14.6 per cent after first month of global oil crisis

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has brought forward his visit to Singapore - Australia’s biggest supplier of fuel - in a bid to shore up deliveries amid fears of petrol rationing.

Worries about fuel running out has accelerated the switch to fully electric vehicles which last month had a record-high market share with EVs now making up one in seven new cars.

Mr Albanese is heading to Singapore on Thursday to meet with his counterpart Lawrence Wong, whose nation was last year Australia’s biggest supplier of refined unleaded petrol and second biggest supplier of diesel, after South Korea.

“This will be important and we’ll continue discussions on securing our trade in petrol, diesel and LNG,” he told reporters in Canberra.

“Singapore is an important relationship with Australia. Singapore is Australia’s largest two-way trade partner and investor in south-east Asia and one of our closest strategic and economic partners.”

The PM made the announcement just hours after Attorney-General Michelle Rowland declared fuel rationing wasn’t on the Federal Government’s agenda.

“We are not considering that. We are focused on security of supply. Work is being done across industry and with international partners to ensure supply,” she told Sunrise on Tuesday.

The uncertainty is accelerating the switch to cars that don’t need any petrol with BYD, the world’s biggest EV maker, having a bigger market share than Ford in Australia.

Battery-electric cars had a record 14.6 per cent market share last month. This was almost double the 7.5 per cent market share of March 2025, as 15,389 EVs were ordered last month, Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries and Electric Vehicle Council data showed.

This also marked a leap from February’s record high level of 11.8 per cent covering the weeks leading up to the February 28 US strikes on Iran that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a global oil crisis that saw average fuel prices in Australia soar by 40 per cent in just weeks.

Last month also saw 8191 plug-in petrol-electric hybrid vehicles sold, making up 7.5 per cent of all vehicles.

Chinese car maker BYD, was last month Australia’s third most popular brand with 7217 sales, putting it behind only Toyota (16574 sales) and Kia (7320 sales) and ahead of Ford on 7149 sales.

BYD was also one of four Chinese marques in the top ten along with GWM, Chery and MG.

EV sales also soared as Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz chokes the supply of crude oil from the Gulf states to Asian fuel refineries that supply Australia with 80 per cent of its fuel needs.

“It is too early to determine whether this represents a structural shift in the market,” Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber said on Tuesday.

“More consumers are considering EVs due to the disruption to fuel supply caused by conflict in the Middle East, along with the review into the fringe benefit tax concession for EVs.”

Federal Energy Minister Chris Bowen noted 241 service stations across Australia had no diesel, or 3 per cent of the total, but in NSW, Australia’s most populated state, the proportion was much higher owing to soaring panic-buying demand for a fuel also needed for farming and mining.

“Despite the fact that demand for petrol and diesel was 30 per cent higher this Easter than last Easter, we continue to see each day service station outages fall,” he said.

NSW had 125 service stations without diesel, or 5 per cent of outlets, while 34 had no fuel.

Victoria had 40 service stations lacking diesel, or 2 per cent out of stock, and 29 without unleaded.

Queensland had 34 with no diesel, also 2 per cent, and 30 without unleaded.

South Australia had seven with no diesel and five with no unleaded while Western Australia had 20 without diesel and 32 without unleaded.

Tasmania had seven without diesel and six with no unleaded petrol, while the Northern Territory had four without diesel and four without unleaded. The ACT had four with no diesel and one without unleaded.

Average unleaded prices in capital cities have fallen back to $2.30 a litre, less than a week after fuel excise was halved to 26.3 cents a litre for three months.

Australia’s top selling cars are still petrol and diesel-powered, even with EV sales growing.

The Korean-made Hyundai Kona, in fifth place last month with 2316 sales, was Australia’s most popular model available as an EV, but the hatch is also sold with petrol and petrol-electric hybrid motors.

Despite the record high share, only one fully electric-only model made the top 10.

The BYD Sealion 7 was in tenth place with 1970 sales last month, more than triple the 573 monthly sales of a year earlier.

The Ford Ranger, available as a diesel and a plug-in hybrid, was the nation’s most popular vehicle with 4452 sales but this marked a 9.7 per cent slide compared with a year earlier.

The second-placed Toyota HiLux saw a 2.1 per cent sales jump to 4167 orders, but the new model only arrived in showrooms at the end of last year with a plug-in hybrid version. A fully electric model is arriving in Australia later this year.

The Mitsubishi Outlander, in fourth place available as a plug-in petrol electric hybrid, suffered a 22.9 per cent sales slide, with 2318 sales.

Since Labor’s Electric Car Discount debuted in July 2022, employers have been able to provide an EV to staff without having to pay the fringe benefits tax provided it is under the $91,387 luxury car tax threshold for fuel-efficient vehicles.

Staff with a company car paying off a novated lease can claim financing and running costs as a tax deduction but this program is under review.