Australia's most popular electric cars in 2023

Last month was the biggest July for new-car sales on record, though EVs slipped slightly from their highs in June.

That said, the Australian public continues to back EVs with their wallets, with battery-vehicle sales up 345 per cent year-to-date and 871 per cent on last July.

China continues its stranglehold on price, significantly undercutting the players from legacy car-makers. Tesla, MG, and BYD are all showing that getting the price right really does matter when it comes to EV sales.

Keep an eye out for new EVs in the coming months, with MG's MG 4 hatch here next week along with the GWM Ora, and soon-to-land BYD Dolphin.

Traditional automakers continue to lag behind the EV game in Australia, and it'll be interesting to see how the public receive the Toyota BZ4x, Volkswagen ID range, Polestar 3, Subaru Solterra, Peugeot E-2008, and Renault Megane E-Tech in the coming months.

BYD puts up a fight in July

The Tesla Model Y (3320 sales) was not only the best-selling EV, it was once again the best-selling vehicle in Australia's most popular market segment – the medium SUV.

Just behind was another medium SUV from China, the BYD Atto 3 (1005) which managed to displace Tesla's Model 3 sedan (604) for the month, though Elon's sedan retains a 5000-sale lead in year-to-date figures.

Fourth spot was locked down by the Polestar 2 (306) which put in a strong show to get ahead of the MG ZS EV (234) in July, though the China-built small SUV retained fourth spot year-to-date.

The Kia EV6 is the first non-Chinese-made car in this list, it scored sixth spot with a historically-strong 167 sales putting it ahead of the Volvo C40 coupe EV (96) and Cupra Born (86).

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 nabbed ninth place (78) ahead of the Mercedes-Benz EQB (73) and the Kia Niro electric narrowly missed out on top-10 honours with 72 sales.

As deliveries ramp up, expect to see GWM's sharply-priced Ora (15th spot, 57 sales) climb the list, and a similar story for the soon-to-launch MG4.

Top 10 best-selling electric vehicles in July

And the rest...

Total EV sales in 2023 (YTD)