A new wave of lower priced electric cars is reshaping the local market with smaller models and compact SUVs now pushing into the kind of price brackets that were once reserved for petrol and hybrid runabouts.
The entry ticket to a new EV is falling and the model list is getting longer. RACV says buyers can now find new electric cars around the $25,000 mark and points to BYD’s Atto 1 from $23,990 plus on road costs and the Atto 2 from $31,990 plus on road costs as signs that the budget end of the market is finally taking off.
This price pressure is arriving at the same time as the Albanese government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard begins to bite.
The standard is designed to push the overall new car fleet toward lower emissions by setting requirements that apply to manufacturers and suppliers rather than individual drivers.
In its latest annual update on the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, the federal government says the NVES came into force on 1 January 2025 with the first reporting period starting on 1 July 2025.
The government update says the number of EV models available expanded from 56 in 2021-22 to 153 models by June 2025 and that growing catalogue is increasingly skewed toward cheaper offerings as newer brands compete hard on price and established makers add more trims to defend market share.
The government update says about 128,000 EVs were sold in the 2024-25 financial year representing 10.9% of new light vehicle sales out of these, 87,500 were battery electric vehicles and 40,500 were plug in hybrids.
Separately, the Electric Vehicle Council said EVs accounted for more than 12% of new car sales between January and June 2025 with June close to 16%.
Policy, prices and what comes next
With the NVES now in its first full cycle, industry is watching what happens when compliance data starts to land.
The NVES Regulator says the 2025 performance period ended on 31 December 2025 and that it will use approved vehicle data to calculate interim emissions values, with associated units to be issued in February 2026.
Those results will help show which suppliers are ahead of requirements and which may need to adjust their sales mix.
The government is also tightening the focus of its consumer side incentives. Its annual update notes that plug in hybrid electric vehicles ceased to be eligible for the Electric Car Discount on 1 April 2025, while battery EVs remain eligible.
This change matters in a market where hybrids are still a major bridge for many buyers. The same update says other hybrid vehicles made up 184,900 sales in 2024-25, or 15.7% of the market.
For households, the most immediate question is whether cheaper EVs translate into cheaper motoring. Julie Delvecchio, chief executive of the Electric Vehicle Council said in a statement that “Electric vehicle sales are powering ahead in 2025 with more Australians than ever before getting behind the wheel.”
The government argues the broader policy package will deliver long term benefits with its annual update citing modelling that points to fuel cost savings over coming decades as the fleet becomes more efficient.
Apartment access to charging, up front finance, resale uncertainty and the reliability of public charging all influence whether a cheaper EV becomes an easy decision.
What is clear is that 2026 is opening with more models, more competition and a regulatory push that is likely to keep the pressure on prices.
