Electric car sales in Australia's outer suburbs take off as commuters pocket 'ridiculous' savings
ABC News
March 11 2024
Nanda Nalluri, who commutes from the Mornington Peninsula, is all smiles when he thinks about how much money his electric car saves him.(
In short: Australia's outer suburbs overtook the inner cities in electric car sales last year.
The peak body for electric cars says cost-of-living pressures, such as higher petrol prices, have been driving this trend.
What’s next? Electric car uptake in Australia lags behind the rest of the world, but cheaper models and the high coverage of rooftop solar will see that gap shrink in coming years.
The myth that the typical electric car driver lives in a leafy inner-city suburb is busted, with the outer suburbs zooming past the cities in sales.
The latest data from the Electric Vehicle Council (EVC), obtained by the ABC, shows the biggest increase in orders for popular electric vehicle (EV) brands last year came from outer-suburban areas.
The data covers sales from the two biggest electric car companies, Elon Musk's Tesla and Chinese-owned BYD, which account for three-quarters of all EV sales, according to the council.
Overall, about 43 per cent of electric cars sold by the car companies last year went to people in outer-metropolitan suburbs, compared to 39 per cent sold in inner-metropolitan areas, as petrol price hikes drove more people to switch to electric.
Experts believe the high rates of rooftop solar and access to off-street parking in the suburbs are also factors behind this trend.
Rouse Hill and Kellyville, in Sydney's north-west, topped the list of suburbs for EV sales last year with 531 orders.
In Victoria, Werribe in Melbourne's outer south-west had 429 new electric cars delivered by the car manufacturers.
Nearly 18 per cent of all EV orders came from regional and rural Australia.
CEO of the Electric Vehicle Council Beyhad Jafari said these latest numbers debunked a stereotype in Australia of who was driving electric cars.
"We had more people buying electric vehicles from Blacktown than in Bondi," he said.
"EVs are not novel. They are a suburban, mainstream Australian reality and that trend is only set to continue."
The rising cost of running a petrol car is behind the shift to electric, according to Mr Jafari.
"When we ask people today why they bought an electric vehicle … the number one reason they give back is being able to avoid high fuel bills," he said.
"So although the initial cost of buying an electric car is higher than a petrol car, the running costs are significantly lower."
'Ridiculously' cheap commute
That's the case for Nanda Nalluri, an emergency services worker living on the Mornington Peninsula, south-east of Melbourne.
Since switching to an electric car a year ago, he has driven more than 37,000 kilometres, mostly commuting for work.
"I'm basically saving, between petrol and servicing, $5,500 to $6,000 a year," he told the ABC.
"I'm doing easily a 100-kilometre round trip for just a shift, and sometimes it goes up to 200km. Over a week, I can easily do 700km."
Mr Nalluri had been interested in switching to an EV to lower his transport costs and reduce his environmental impact but said it only made sense economically as EV prices came down in recent years.
He worked out that he had saved "thousands and thousands" on petrol costs and servicing compared to running his old car, as EVs required less maintenance.
Nanda Nalluri, who lives on the Mornington Peninsula, switched to an electric car a year ago.
"I had a sedan that would get 6.5-7 litres per 100 kilometres. For 100 kilometres, it was $10-15 for our petrol car," he said.
He is now on an electricity plan that offers a special EV-charging deal, with the cheapest prices in the early hours of the morning, and free power in the middle of the day when there are high levels of solar power in the grid.
"With the deal that I'm on with the electric company, it's about $1.20 for 100 kilometres [to charge], so you're talking easily like a 10-times saving effectively," he said.
"I can do my entire work commute for like five to 10 bucks a week … it's ridiculously cheap."
With solar on his roof, and cheap electricity, Mr Nalluri only uses his driveway charger to fill up the car.
"It's now a point of pride that I've never had to use a supercharger. So, I'm 35-40,000 kilometres in [having the EV] and never had to use charging outside of my house," he said.
He said he was not surprised that he was part of a bigger trend of outer metropolitan residents shifting to electric.
"A lot of friends in outer metro area have jumped on the EVs as well for the exact same reason, especially if they do similar kilometres to me," he said.
"They all look at the maths and it's just overwhelmingly clear."
The average capital city household spent 17 per cent of its income on transport in the December quarter, according to Australian Automobile Association data released last week.
Swinburne University's professor of future urban mobility, Hussein Dia, said cost-of-living pressures on commuters were pushing people in outer metropolitan areas like Mr Nalluri to switch to EVs.
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