Working-class suburbs on the fringes of major cities are leading electric vehicle growth as people look to cut fuel bills and cash in on government incentives.
The Federal Government’s Electric Vehicle Discount, a fringe benefits tax incentive that makes a $75,000 EV cost about $200 less per week than a regular car for the same price, has proved incredibly popular in outer suburbs where people have long commutes.
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In NSW, suburbs such as Kellyville and Baulkham Hills are leading EV uptake, while in Victoria the top areas include Werribee and Hoppers Crossing.
In Queensland it’s Springfield and Karana Downs, and in South Australia the top suburbs include Happy Valley and Coromandel Valley.
Satellite cities such as Gosford, Ballarat and Toowoomba have also recorded significant growth.
EV owner Callan Brooker drives an electric BYD leased using the government’s discount for his commute in Newcastle, north of Sydney.
“I worked out the numbers and it made sense,” he said.
“It’s been good so far. The only issue is if you go to do a long trip, you might need to stop on the way home to top up.”
Data obtained by electric vehicle advocates also shows that middle income earners are the most likely to buy an EV.
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A new report published by the McKell Institute, Fairer Roads, found EV registrations in western Sydney have grown 119 per cent per year since 2021 – about 25 per cent faster than Greater Sydney.
The same is true in Melbourne.
Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio says “the families now considering the switch to electric are working households in the outer suburbs of Sydney who have looked at their petrol bill and have found a way out”.
Ms Delvecchio said proposed road user charges for electric vehicles intended to make EV users contribute toward infrastructure costs must be managed carefully, or they will “shut the door on these people who are looking to cut the cost of household bills in Parramatta and Penrith by getting into an EV”.
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McKell Institute chief executive Edward Cavanough says a flat $600 fee applied to all road users each year would be much fairer than a per-litre petrol excise or per-kilometre EV fee.
“Families in outer suburbs have looked at their petrol bill and made a rational decision,” he said.
“They drive the furthest and have the fewest alternatives to driving. A per-kilometre charge would penalise them for that, and that’s not a fair outcome.
“At a time when the government is trying to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles, a per kilometre model is a basic incentive to stick to fossil fuels.”
The report published by the McKell Institute found that EVs “are no longer a status symbol, and are instead a useful investment for people to reduce their costs in the face of high fuel prices”.
“This is evident in EV registration data, which shows that EV uptake is growing fastest among middle income areas, and are growing at the same rate for the top and bottom of the income distribution,” it said.
The report argues that “those who are on lower incomes, who are required to live further from city centres, in suburbs that are typically poorly serviced by public transport, should pay less under a future road user charge system.”
That belief is backed up by electric vehicle leasing data published by the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association.
NALSPA chief executive Rohan Martin says working class suburbs were the most likely to lease an EV.
“This data completely overturns the idea that the EV Discount is a tax break focused on wealthy, inner-city elites,” he said.
“The people relying on the EV Discount the most are outer-suburban families, blue-collar workers, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and households under real financial pressure who want to reduce their weekly costs.
“For many, the EV Discount is the difference between affording an EV and not.”
