Transport is Australia's second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, after electricity. 'Road' is the biggest category in transport emissions, by far.
When we drill down into 'road' emissions, cars dominate. Just 2% of Australia's 21 million registered vehicles are electric. That figure is growing. In 2022:
- Battery electric registrations increased by 102%
- Hybrid electric regos increased by 31%.
- Combined, they add up to 125,000 cars.
But something else has changed. There are more diesel vehicles on the roads too. In 2022:
- Diesel registrations increased by 5%.
- That adds more than 300,000 cars.
What's happening now? EV and hybrid sales are cutting into the petrol-car market. Car sales provide the most timely data on how things are changing:
- Battery EVs were 7% of car sales in July.
- Hybrids and plug-ins were another 11%.
The car sales data also shows Australians are buying more utility vehicles. More than three-quarters of new cars sold in Australia are SUVs or Utes.
Not all SUVs are high-polluting. In June quarter, 22% of medium SUVs bought were Battery EVs (BEVs). But the other models are dragging the chain:
- Small SUVs: 5% BEVs
- Large SUVs: 2%
- Utes: 0.05%
These national figures hide seismic differences depending on state, region and wealth.