The Gold Coast is a city in Queensland, Australia. The hosts mention it because they’re recording this episode there instead of their usual Sydney studio.
Sydney is the largest city in Australia and the hosts’ usual studio location. They reference it to explain why this episode’s recording location is different.
An electric powertrain is the set of parts that makes the car move using electricity. For a fully electric car, it means the motor is powered by the battery—no petrol or diesel is used.
In auto reporting, “deliveries” means the cars are actually handed to customers and are in their possession. The hosts contrast this with deposits or orders, explaining that their “sales” figure is effectively delivery-based.
ACT stands for the Australian Capital Territory, which includes Canberra. They mention it because EVs make up a very large share of new-car sales there, likely helped by better charging access.
This means how many EV chargers there are compared to how many people live in an area. It helps you judge whether charging is easy to find, not just how many chargers exist overall.
“Pent-up demand” means people want to buy something, but they couldn’t get it for a while. The hosts are saying BYD shipped extra cars to meet that backlog.
Tesla is a company that mainly makes electric cars. In this segment, they’re saying Tesla’s Model Y is selling better than everything else in Australia.
Model YL is a Tesla Model Y variant with more space, usually meaning extra seating. In the segment, it’s part of why Tesla keeps topping the sales charts.
Year over year change means “how much higher or lower sales are compared to the same month last year.” It helps you see whether a brand is improving or slipping.
Concept
percentage vs absolute volume
A percentage can look huge even if the brand only sold a few cars to begin with. The host is saying you should also look at the actual number of cars, not just the percent change.
Toyota is a major car company that sells lots of different powertrains, including hybrids and EVs. In this segment, the host says Toyota’s EV sales dropped by 5%.
The Saturn Aura is a mid-size sedan—basically a regular family car. It was made by Saturn, but Saturn isn’t selling new cars anymore. It might be mentioned because it shows what kinds of cars people have been driving before switching to newer options like EVs.
GWM is a Chinese car company that sells electric vehicles. The host says their EV sales are not doing badly, and points to a specific model as part of that.
MG is a car brand with roots in the UK, but it’s now tied to Chinese ownership. The host says MG is doing better than many other older brands because it’s selling more electric cars.
The Audi S6 is a more powerful, sportier version of the Audi A6. It’s designed to feel quicker and more responsive than the regular model. It may be mentioned when people talk about EVs because buyers often compare what they get in a fast, premium car versus an electric one.
Car
MG S6
MG S6 is another electric MG model the host says is coming soon. They’re mentioning it to support the idea that MG is pushing more EVs into the market.
Cherry is a car brand the host says is selling well right now. They’re using it as an example of a brand that’s gaining traction in EV and hybrid categories.
“Plug-in hybrids” (the host’s “plugging hybrids”) are cars that combine a gasoline engine with an electric motor and a battery you can recharge by plugging in. The host mentions them to explain why some brands are still selling well even if they’re not all-electric.
Geely is a car company from China. The host says Geely’s EV sales are up dramatically and that a new model is about to launch in Australia.
Brand
Azusu
This name looks like a transcription error for a car brand. The host’s point is that the brand is mostly selling diesel cars, so it’s not keeping up with EV demand.
FCAI is an Australian industry group that tracks and publishes vehicle sales data. If a brand reports to them, its numbers are more comparable to other brands.
Atiko is named as the distributor for the new Chinese brand whose parent is Dongfang Motors. The host also says Atiko distributes Renault, implying Atiko’s role is important for getting EVs into the Australian market.
The Ford Ranger is a very common pickup truck in Australia, often bought for work and towing. Here it’s mentioned because the EV-related models are outselling it in June 2026.
The Toyota Hilux is a super common pickup truck in Australia, known for being tough and dependable. In this discussion, it’s used as a comparison point for sales versus newer plug-in models.
The host is saying the “Kona” name on the sales chart doesn’t clearly show which version is electric. So you can’t tell whether those sales are for an EV or another type of powertrain.
The Zeekr 7X is an electric SUV, meaning it runs on a battery instead of gasoline. It’s included in EV adoption discussions because it’s one of the newer electric models people can buy. When the podcast says it’s doing well, it usually means it’s getting strong sales or attention.
The host is looking at where the cars come from (which country they’re made in) and comparing sales shares. The point is to show which countries’ cars are gaining ground in Australia.
Year-on-year change means “compared to the same time last year.” It helps you see whether sales are accelerating or falling, not just whether they’re high or low.
A mild hybrid is a car that has a small electric assist, but it still mainly runs on gas. It usually can’t go very far using electricity alone.
LIVE
Hey everyone, I'm Tom and this is Joy. Hello. Welcome to our wrap up of Battery Electric
Vehicle Sales for the month of June 2026. Today is the 7th of July 2026. We are looking
retrospectively. Speaking of which, behind us is the Gold Coast here in Australia. We're not,
you know, usual studio in Sydney, taking a little break and but still bringing you the facts and
for EV sales from June 2026 and the sunshine is lovely. It's really nice actually beaming down on
us. And what a big month it's been actually for BEV sales in Australia. It is not a fluke,
people are embracing EVs and just new energy vehicles in general. So it's very, very, very
encouraging to see from our point of view. So let's start with how many car sales in general
from just a general powertrain point of view, regardless of electric or petrol or diesel or
whatever. The FCAI reported the best ever month of car sales in Australia, 140,000 vehicles.
That's probably catching up from, I guess, the last few months where there was a drop in numbers.
So this is kind of the market sort of levelling itself out again. But still 140,000 sales of
which BEVs, battery electric vehicles, this is 100% electric powertrain, no fuel, sorry, no
petrol or diesel otherwise to help with the electric side. So all electric, 23.5% sales.
That is a new Australian record. Yeah, that's almost one in four territories, isn't it?
Yeah, exactly. So one in four Australians buying new cars and buying fully electric and that's
really encouraging. In a regular month, I guess when regular meaning usually about 100,000 new
cars are sold every month. When we say sales, we mean deliveries, by the way. So people actually
having the car in their possession. So not putting a deposit down on a car, but actually
being able to drive away. It's semantics. We say sales because people understand what sales means,
but in reality, it's a delivery in their hands. This would have been closer to 30% of BEV sales.
So think about that for one second. One in three cars in a regular month would have been an EV,
full EV, which is great. Best on ground was the ACT, the Australian Capital Territory,
recording 43%. 43% of BEV sales. 43% of all car sales were BEVs.
The ACT probably has the best infrastructure for such. I did look this up. They've got the
highest per capita number of chargers in the ACT. As we know, it's terribly over-serviced because
of all the government organizations and things that are generally there for everything. They've
got hospitals, universities, you name it. It is the capital for a reason and deservedly so that
they have all of the infrastructure. I'm not complaining that they've got infrastructure,
by the way. Infrastructure is always a good thing. But yeah, you can see if you've got the
infrastructure there, people are happy to buy the cars. I understand a lot of them will probably be
government agencies as well. But obviously, the ACT's got a high number of houses as well,
freestanding houses where they can install a charger at home, so that probably helps too.
Yeah, so 43%. That means almost one in two people buying a new car bought a battery electric
vehicle in the ACT, which is phenomenal. Is that like Scandinavian numbers?
Not quite, but we are getting there. The trajectory is right. I'm still very excited,
by the way. My heart is racing talking about this. Also, we should reflect back on the last six
months. Obviously, with global issues, there was a war in Iran, which is kind of still ongoing.
If you look at January 2026, 8.4% of all new car sales in Australia were BEVs.
Contrasting that with June, which was 23.4%, so that's a three-fold increase in new car sales.
That's pretty crazy, isn't it? It was less than one in 10 sales, and now it's almost one in four.
It's phenomenal, honestly. It's great to see Australians waking up and embracing EVs,
which is great. Very soon, you will know someone who has bought an EV. Someone you love. Keep that
in mind. Special mentions. Okay, so we always speculate on our live streams. When will BYD
overtake Toyota in terms of number of sales? BYD is probably the greatest competitor to
Toyota's throne, the one that could knock off Toyota off their perch, so to speak.
Only because they're also similarly minded in terms of how they produce their cars.
They're going for volume and mass market appeal, so they're kind of the most equivalent to
Toyota in terms of what their brand looks like. Yeah, correct. We asked our live audiences all
the time, when will they do it? Will it be months? years? I've always said maybe in the
next six months, and this is happening quicker than I even expected. BYD was only 243 sales
or deliveries short of Toyota in June 2026. So let that sink in for a second. They're getting
very close to becoming the number one car brand in Australia. It's phenomenal what they've achieved.
You're basically frothing in the mouth. I am. I just want change so badly.
And the figure's reflecting it. BYD recorded 18,881 new energy vehicles in June.
It's a shame. I was going to say, that's a nice number. It's a shame. It wasn't 1888.
It was so close. I do like the symmetry of that. Yeah, true. It's a palindromic number.
But by their own admission, BYD said it's a feat unlikely to be repeated for some time.
That's probably due to the fact that they brought their big ship over from China
to deliver an extra number of cars to meet that pent up demand for their vehicles.
But nevertheless, it's no fluke now. BYD is starting to take a foothold in Australia,
and we'll see what the numbers are in coming months.
I mean, I appreciate that for a company that's so huge. In terms of sales that they're sending
to Australia, that number is really quite tiny. The fact that they bothered to send a dedicated
ship over when we're such a small market, I appreciate that. And I understand some people
say it was a PR stunt, yes. But still, what a PR stunt, right? Nothing like a big ship
ocean liner with BYD right across for all the media to cover. That's incredible stunt, either way.
Yeah, and the other special mention is obviously the Tesla Model Y. Last month we saw that they
were the top selling car, regardless of any powertrain in Australia. And June is their second
model, isn't it? In terms of the car, the specific model. And now, the second month in a row,
they're doing the same. They've outsold every other vehicle. And that covers the Model Y premium,
which is the standard five-seater car. And also the Model YL, which is the one we have now,
the six-seater. So they don't differentiate. Probably the performance as well.
Yeah, I mean, that's still standard. Yeah, that's right. So top-selling car.
How can you call a performance standard? Yeah, that's true. That's very insulting, isn't it?
But yeah, hold on to Tesla for doing that as well. So top-selling car is an EV for the second
month in a row. Other special mentions too is that China has been and is still the top source of
vehicles into the country, recording 35% of all car sales from China. And if you're wondering who
they desroined, that would be Japan. Of course, that's right. All right, so again, I should say
the V-Fax didn't release their data, you know, brand by brand or model by model, like they normally
do. They didn't give a reason to lie. But to car experts' credit, they went and basically called
every single car brand in Australia and got the facts for us, which is nice. So we're going to use
their table here and show you basically what's happening. And for once, we're going to compare
EVs with the rest of Australia in terms of car brands, regardless of the powertrain, to see
where EVs fit in the landscape at the moment. Because we can now. Normally, that wouldn't have
been a very useful comparison because the numbers were so different. But now you can actually start
putting the tables together. Exactly. Now we can blend them and see where they're going.
So let's start with this table here. So this is just by brand. And I've got June 2026 deliveries
in one column and then year over year change in the next. You can see whether it's
what the swing has been in political terms for each brand. Let's not make that political.
Trust me, people will. It's too late. People seem to think it's political.
Okay, so Toyota, yes, losing ground. That's obvious, 5.4%. BYD,
yeah, as I said, 243 cars short of dethroning Toyota, 131.5% change year on year. That is
phenomenal. That's probably best on ground. Ford losing ground, Tesla obviously gaining ground,
almost 90% swing since last year. Kia's. Now, I'm just going to have a caveat here while you get
overly excited. Say you sold one car and then you sold three cars, that would be like a 200%
increase, isn't it? So just be aware, if you've got a big number and then like a small percentage
decrease, you're still selling a lot of cars. And if you have a small number and you sell
slightly more cars, that's going to look incredible in terms of your percentage,
but you're still only selling a few cars. So let's just calm the farm here.
I'm going to combat that and say, well, that depends on the sample size. So
obviously, yes, for small numbers, it's insignificant, but look at the numbers,
we're talking thousands. And for BYD, you can't argue because their numbers are comparable with
Toyota. And then conversely, Toyota, they're big numbers too, and they've lost 5%. That's a huge
loss actually. Ford's the same. Tesla's big numbers, so they've gained a lot. Kia's got some EVs, so
they're holding their ground. And that seems to be a trend at the moment. If you've got EVs in your
fleet, you're holding your ground. Hyundai, I think their cars are too expensive personally,
they're nice cars, but that's why they're losing ground. I think 11% overall.
Mazda, we're going to await the new 6E, which we're going to test very soon on the channel.
And they've also got the CX60E. Let me get that right. CX60E, which is the SUV, also coming
onto market as well. So we should see these numbers improve, I think, for Mazda over time.
GWM obviously, mostly new energy vehicles. They're doing okay. Got the Aura 5, yes,
MG obviously, new energy vehicles mostly. I'm going to say MG is one of the legacy brands that
is bucking the trend, because if you look at all the other legacy brands, I think they're all pretty
much negative, are they not? Kia is also kind of neutral, but MG is actually increasing sales.
MG is the funny one, because yes, the legacy in that obviously it's a very old brand from Britain,
but once China took over, obviously they've flooded them with new energy vehicles. So
yeah, I think it's good to see them bucking the trend that way. Obviously, they've got very good
EVs. We've got one ourselves, MG S5. MG S6, four of you coming as well on the channel.
Cherry obviously kicking goals as well. And this is different from a Moto J-Coup,
which is down here. So this is just cherry alone. If you combine cherry and a Moto J-Coup,
I think it'd be a phenomenal result for them. 49% increase. They've got some good hybrids as well,
plugging hybrids. Azusu losing ground, because they're just diesel used basically. Mitsubishi's
the same. Geely, phenomenal result, 326%. Huge three-fold increase. And they're reasonable size
numbers as well. Looking forward to the Geely EX2 launching very soon in Australia. That's a
great little vehicle. I can't wait to drive it in Sydney. Subaru, they've got a few EVs now,
but against still losing ground because they're relying on their iSales.
J-Coup. Is that pretty much just the J-Coup J-5? Are there any other J-Coups?
Pretty much. There's a Moto 9, like a couple of plug-in hybrids there too. But the J-Coup J-5
is the car. I was going to say, I imagine that 2500. I feel like I've seen more than 2500 J-Coups.
I know this is just for June. But yeah, that is a car that I think you're going to see a lot more of.
It's very, very popular. We'll go car by car in a second, but most of the numbers here are from
the J-Coup J-5. The Timu Land Rover, so to speak, which people love. Multivagin, yeah, losing ground
as expected. BMW, still losing ground. But not as much as Mercedes. That's true. Mercedes just, wow,
they've dropped the ball, haven't they? 17% loss. Nissan dropping the ball. Zika. Zika's obviously
coming from very small numbers. Yeah. Well, it was basically just the Zika X.
Yes, still. Those numbers are now including the 7X. Yeah. Phenomenal growth, really for Zika,
obviously. Honda, so many cars anyway. Lexus, same Audi. So the rest, I think,
we can't probably comment too much because they don't sell that many cars in Australia.
The rest of these brands. Interestingly, X-Peng is finally, although D-Power, there's a few cars there.
They've dropped their price recently, too, of the SO-5.
SO-5? No, SO-7. Sorry, SO-7's the SCV. X-Peng is finally reporting to the FCAI, which is good,
because factory is now in the country, the HQ people, as opposed to the true EV.
And also, 4th thing is another mention there, too. 4th thing is a new Chinese brand, parent company,
is Dongfang Motors, now distributed by Atiko. The people who distribute Renault as well.
Is that right? Not a single Jaguar was sold? Apparently, not a single Citroen. Maybe they
didn't get the numbers from these guys, maybe. I don't know. But that's really sad if that's
completely nothing. Wow. Anyway, maybe someone can tell us. We just don't know because V-Fax
didn't tell us. Yeah, I mean, three Rolls-Royces and not a single Jaguar. I know, five McLarens.
Okay, let's scroll down to model types, just specific model types. And obviously, Tesla Model
Y, as we mentioned earlier, top-selling car again in Australia for June 2026, second month in the
row. Well above the Ford Ranger, well above the Toyota Hilux, which I'm very happy about,
because I'm not particularly a youth fan. I mean, we understand if you need your youth,
because you have, you run a small business or you're a tradesperson and you're actually
using it for work. That's just my opinion. Just don't, not my cup of tea, right? That's fine.
And BYDC Line 7 in the mix, which is great to see. Fourth best-selling car,
beating the Toyota RAV4. That's a phenomenal effort given how popular the RAV4 is, right?
I like that the BYDC 6 is like a genuine alternative for people over a Ford Ranger or
Toyota Hilux if they want something that's, I mean, it's not a fully electric, but you know,
it's a plug-in hybrid, so it's something. It's a step in the right direction.
And personally, I think it's a better-looking car, just again, my opinion, but happy to see
that it's a plug-in hybrid at least. And even Addo 2 has made the mix, made a list.
Kona is all powertrain, so we can't see which one's electric.
GEX 5? GEX 5 up there in the top 20? That's great, great news. C-line 6 is a plug-in hybrid.
And the other, there it goes, JQ J5. Yeah, there you go, 2000 sales. Yeah, makes up most of those
2000 numbers for the Yamota JQ brand. And the Zika 7X down here, so doing well as well in the top,
at least top 30 cars sold in Australia. And the final table I want to show you is the vehicles
sold by, where is it? By country of origin, so this is really interesting too. We touched on
this earlier as well. So yeah, China is now well and truly ahead, 55,000 sales of those 140,000
sales in Australia. Year-on-year change, 85%. So again, Australians are embracing Chinese cars.
The Japanese are the ones who are losing ground as expected, 27,000 sales, which is a drop,
12% drop compared to last year. Thailand make a lot of cars as well for our country,
because it's a right-hand drive market. And then Korea holding ground, not too bad. And Germany
actually gaining ground, interestingly, from that year-on-year change. Maybe they're
performance model-wise. Possibly, actually. Good point. Right. And BMWs, right? And BMW
have a slight increase? They've got some good EVs actually, and some new ones coming too,
the Neuer-class EVs, which we'll hopefully test for you. Right, well look, we won't go through each
cars. We normally do, or we kind of did already, but we won't go through our spreadsheet as we
normally do. But if you just check out our videos from, or a video from May 2026, where we went
through all our, most of the vehicles in our spreadsheet, our master spreadsheet, which
will leave a link in the video description below. Not much has changed. There's a few
cars that have been released, but we haven't reviewed them yet, so we won't do another full
wrap-up. We were expecting a few cars to review this month, including, like I said, the EX2,
the MGS6 again, and the Aura 5. Aura 5. Yeah, so stay tuned for those videos.
Otherwise, any final thoughts before we wrap up for this video?
No, I'm enjoying the sunshine, and I think it's a very good metaphor for,
you know, it's very symbolic of how, yeah, new battery electric vehicles are
coming into Australia and slowly, slowly, you know, taking over the market and hopefully
making less pollution on the roads for everyone, quieter, better technology, safer.
I'm just, I'm just very happy. Exactly. And one more point, you make a good point,
actually. If we look at electric and plug-in hybrids, so like, you know, new energy vehicles,
if you add 32,000 to 16,000, that's 48,000, that's almost a quick math, like maybe
35% of new car sales are now new energy, so electric and plug-in hybrid, so some sort of
electrification. I don't really count hybrids, they're kind of mild, mild hybrid.
Yeah, but I'm, I'm waiting for the day where I can, you know, like walk down,
like, you know, the streets like that, and it's, you know, lovely and quiet, and I can hear the
birds singing, and I can hear the waves from the ocean, you know, and I'm not breathing in fumes.
Yep, and less noise pollution as well, from the whoons driving down.
Yeah, yeah, and cubes with less respiratory condition is always a good thing.
That's important too. Okay, well, that's it from John and myself for the month of June 2026.
It's been a great month, obviously, for BEVs, and looking forward to talking about next months
to see whether the trend does continue for electric sales in Australia. Otherwise,
this is Ludacris Fee. Thanks for watching. Until next time, happy charging.
About this episode
June 2026 delivered a record Australian car month: 140,000 deliveries total, with BEVs hitting 23.5% of sales—an all-time high and close to one in four new cars. The ACT led at 43% thanks to strong charger availability and home-install potential. Over six months, BEV share jumped from 8.4% to 23.4%. Tesla Model Y again topped the market. BYD is closing fast on Toyota, just 243 deliveries behind in June, while brand-by-brand trends show EV-equipped brands holding ground and legacy non-EV lineups slipping.
Catch up on the latest in Electric Vehicle news from Australia and around the world! Hosted by Tom & Joy Gan of Ludicrous Feed, Riz Akhtar from Carloop and Roland Lam from Zapped
