Australia may be lagging behind some other countries in terms of electric vehicle uptake, but there’s clear demand for them.
That’s according to a survey commissioned by the BMW Group, which found 48 per cent of Australians are willing to go electric for their next vehicle purchase, with males aged 18-34 the most likely to do so.
Moreover, it found that while 50 per cent of Australians expect to still own a combustion-powered vehicle in 2025, only eight per cent expect to own one in 2040.
67 per cent of respondents also said they believe EVs are the future.
But there were some concerns, chiefly around purchase cost and infrastructure. Only 31 per cent of Australians are aware of the nearest charging station to their homes, for example, while only 19 per cent knew the closest one to their workplace.
Moreover, only two in five Australians believe they only need 30km or less of mileage to do their day-to-day driving, with the majority finding they needed mileage of up to 60km to tackle their daily commute.
The survey, conducted by insights agency Hall & Partners, had more than 1000 Australian respondents, aged between 18 and 75 years old, all with valid driver’s licences.
EV sales were up 158 per cent in the first quarter of 2023, with their total market share rising from 2.9 per cent in the first quarter of 2022 to 7.4 per cent.
BMW EV sales were up by 112 per cent and Mini’s up by 213 per cent.
While Mini only has one EV at the moment, it is rapidly transitioning to an EV-only line-up as it readies the new Aceman and Countryman crossovers, the former of which will be EV-only.
It will launch its last new ICE vehicle in 2025, and expects 50 per cent of its sales to be of EVs by 2027 before it ceases ICE sales in 2030.
The BMW brand has made no such pledge to cease combustion vehicle sales, but EVs are rapidly proliferating within its line-up.
It offers most of these in Australia, with the China-only i3 sedan an exception.
Within BMW’s Australian showrooms, there are the iX3, i4, iX and i7 EVs. The i5 will join them in the fourth quarter of 2023.
