Australia’s best-selling electric cars of 2022, every model listed

Sales of electric vehicles in Australia nearly doubled in 2022 compared to the year prior – as Tesla remains the top-seller in the category in a year marred by stock shortages.

Figures published by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) show 33,410 electric vehicles were reported as sold in 2022 – up 94 per cent on the 17,243 figure in 2021 (when Tesla registrations are included), accounting for 3.1 per cent of all new motor vehicles sold.

About three in five electric cars sold last year wore Tesla badges, amounting to 19,594 vehicles – up 62 per cent on the 12,094 reported as sold by the company in 2021, and a 19-fold increase on the circa-1000 cars it delivered four years ago (2018).

Tesla placed 16th outright on the Australian new-car sales charts – up from 19th in 2021 – beating established marques such as Audi, Honda, Volvo and Renault.

The record result comes after Tesla ramped up production at its Shanghai factory – which builds cars for Australia – in the second half of the year, following slowdowns due to COVID-19 lockdowns in China in early to mid 2022.

Sales of the Tesla Model 3 sedan – the company's only model in 2021 – declined by 10 per cent in 2022 following the August arrival of the related Tesla Model Y family SUV, 8717 deliveries of which were reported in 2022.

The tally of 10,877 Tesla Model 3 deliveries was enough to end the 28-year winning streak of the Toyota Camry in the mid-size sedan category, as reported yesterday, after it posted 9538 sales, down 27 per cent on the prior year.

While Tesla accounts for the majority of electric vehicles sold in Australia, the battle among the rest of the field heated-up last year.

The growth in sales of non-Tesla electric vehicles in 2022 outpaced that of the broader electric-vehicle market – and Tesla cars – with 13,816 reported as sold, up 168 per cent on the 5149 delivered in 2021.

The best-selling non-Tesla electric vehicle in 2021 – China's MG ZS EV small SUV – was dethroned last year by another newcomer from China, the BYD Atto 3 small SUV.

BYD reported 2113 Atto 3 electric SUVs as sold in 2022 – compared to 1119 MG ZS EVs, amid a changeover between old and new models that saw showrooms without stock for seven months.

The BYD impressive sales result came despite deliveries only commencing in September – and a three-week pause on deliveries in October and November to resolve two breaches of Australian motor vehicle regulations.

In December 2022 alone, BYD's Australian distributor EVDirect reported 1268 vehicles as sold – placing it second overall for the month, ahead of the Tesla Model Y (460) and behind the Tesla Model 3 (1806).

Between the third-placed BYD Atto 3 and fifth-placed MG ZS EV was the Polestar 2 on 1524 sales, the first model in Australia from the Chinese electric offshoot of Volvo.

The Hyundai Kona Electric finished sixth for the year with 1096 deliveries – combining with 580 Ioniq Electric hatchbacks and 756 Ioniq 5 SUVs to make Hyundai the second biggest seller of electric cars in Australia last year, with 2432 examples reported as sold.

Polestar just edged out sister company Volvo, which reported a record 1474 electric vehicles as sold in 2022, across 983 examples of the XC40 Recharge Pure Electric, and 491 of its coupe-styled, electric-only C40 twin.

In total, 13.8 per cent of Volvos sold in Australia in 2022 were electric – exceeding the 10.9 per cent share of Volvo electric cars sold globally last year, a key milestone as the company plans to go electric-only from 2026, four years ahead of Europe.

The arrival of large shipments of cars late in the year meant Volvo Australia reported 327 electric XC40s and 196 C40s as sold in December – or 55 per cent of the 959 vehicles it delivered in last month.

Among luxury manufacturers – excluding Tesla – Polestar and Volvo led the way, ahead of BMW (1290), Mercedes-Benz (1166), Mini (455), Porsche (430), Genesis (174), Audi (142), and Jaguar (23).

Finishing at the bottom of the leaderboard was the LDV eDeliver 9 van (5), BMW i3 hatch (3), LDV eT60 ute, LDV Mifa 9 people mover and Mercedes-Benz eVito van (2 each), and the Ford e-Transit, Cupra Born and Mercedes-Benz eVito Tourer (1).

However, these cars are 'niche' low-volume models that only went on sale in the last few months of 2022 (such as the Mercedes-Benz and LDV models), were discontinued early in the year (BMW i3), or in the Cupra and Ford's case, are internal company demonstrator and training vehicles that have been imported ahead of customer cars later this year.

The complete leaderboard for electric-car sales in Australia in 2022 is listed below.

The electric-car market is set to expand further in 2023. Highlights include: