Just 1pc of Australia has one, but now a soaring 42pc of Aussies say they'll be buying an EV next

Some electric findings for fans of a viable human future and investing in new metals.

New research has revealed the annual purchase rate for electric vehicles may be set to rise to the hundreds of thousands with 42pc of Aussie’s saying it’ll be the car they’ll be buying next.

The findings, which were derived from a survey of an independent panel of 1010 Australians, commissioned by leading finance platform Money.com.au, asked respondents if or when they will buy an electric vehicle.

Just one per cent already own an electric vehicle, a third (34 per cent) revealed they will buy one when they are ready to upgrade their existing car, another eight per cent would purchase one before they are ready for an upgrade and nearly half (46 per cent) revealed their next car will not be an electric vehicle.

According to the survey, the appetite for electric vehicles is stronger among younger Australians where half (50 per cent) of under-30s indicated they will purchase an electric vehicle either before or when they are ready to upgrade their car, compared with 45pc of 31-50-year-olds and 34pc of over-50s.

The research also sought to uncover reasons why a segment of the population will not upgrade to an electric car.

Respondents were asked to identify the top deterrent from a list of five – for 41pc, the high electric vehicle prices are the main barrier, while 17pc believe an electric vehicle isn’t suitable for their needs.

Around 15pc won’t upgrade mostly because they are worried high energy prices will lead to an increase in charging costs and 7pc fear the charge on their vehicle won’t last the duration of a trip, potentially leaving them stranded.

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Sales not a true indicator: Every EV in Australia is sold out

This data comes hot on the heels of new car sales figures released by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries last week.

The findings showed 2022 was a stand-out year for EV sales in Australia after the country sold around 33,140 new battery EVs, reaching 3.1pc of market share in a market where more than 1.08mn vehicles were sold.

December alone raked in a record 5,084 sales or 5.8pc of the market share.

In 2021, only 2pc of new cars sold in Australia were low-emissions vehicles, compared with the 9pc globally.

In an interview with Stockhead, Electric Vehicle Council CEO Behyad Jafari says the issue for Australia is not around electric vehicle demand – because every electric vehicle in the country is sold out, it is more to do with supply.

“Addressing supply is a much harder challenge, particularly in the short to medium term – both the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6 had expressions of interests ranging up to 16,000 customers so sales only tells us how many cars automakers choose to send to Australia for sale,” he explains.

“Based on our estimations, while a little over three per cent of the market are electric vehicle sales, demand probably looks closer to 12 to 15 per cent of the market and we judge that based on how large waiting lists are for different EVs, the number of search enquiries, market research and surveys.”

NOW READ: Inaugural EV summit puts fuel efficiency standards back on the table

2023 outlook: The Year of Federally Mandated Regulations

In 2023, Jafari says we will continue to more EV models and volume arrive to Australia’s shores but at a level that won’t satisfy the amount of demand.

“I would suspect that we will still be in a position where electric vehicles are sold right away or sold before it even arrives in Australia through online sales,” he says.

“But I also think this will be the year that we will have federally mandated regulations that will start to fix this for future years, and we will start to see our market being supplied by similar quantities of new EVs as other markets like the US and Europe.”

ASX stocks to watch

By the end of the decade, the Australian Government plans to accelerate the deployment of charging and hydrogen refuelling stations to support 1.7 million electric vehicles nationwide with the help of a $250 million government fund.

While the electric vehicle market in Australia is still young, this presents a huge opportunity for companies in a range of different sectors to lead the energy transition.

NOVONIX (ASX:NVX)

Brisbane-based NVX is a developer and supplier of high-performance materials such as graphene-based anodes for the lithium-ion battery industry.

While the company has its origins in Australia it is focused on the North American market with operations in both the USA and Canada.

NVX was recently was part of the Biden administration’s policy/funding plans to promote local EV battery producers and material suppliers.

In January 2022, the company signed an agreement to be the exclusive supplier of graphite anode material to KORE as part of a strategic partnership to advance the lithium-ion battery supply chain across North America.

Recently, Novonix secured financing for the construction of a battery cell production gigafactory, which is set to begin in 2023, ahead of the delivery of material in 2024.

AMPOL (ASX:ALD)

ALD has committed to deliver fast-charging bays at more than 100 sites in 2019 across its national retail network, covering the Greater Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth regions.

RECTIFIER TECHNOLOGIES (ASX:RFT)

With offices in Melbourne, Malaysia, and Singapore RFT specialises in developing and manufacturing high reliability and high efficiency power conversion products.

In August last year, it launched its first two-way electric vehicle (EV) charger, allowing homes and businesses to not only charge an EV, but also sell excess power back to the grid.

Known as “vehicle-to-grid” (V2G), this technology allows owners of EVs with bi-directional charging capabilities, such as the Nissan Leaf, to sell power back to the grid during times of peak demand, helping to cut their own power bills.

Its product ‘Highbury’ is a wall-mounted DC slim-line bidirectional charger, designed with carports and tight car parking spaces in mind – the company expects the product to be on the market soon, along with the 11kW, three-phase Highbury for faster charging and greater energy export capability for commercial vehicle owners.

MAGNIS ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES (ASX:MNS)

Sydney-based MNS is a vertically integrated lithium-ion battery company with investments in the electrification supply chain, including manufacturing of green credentialed lithium-ion battery cells through its US based subsidiary Imperium3 New York, Inc (iM3NY).

Magnis is looking to develop a lithium-ion battery Gigafactory in Townsville.

It’s one of three large scale Gigafactories Imperium3 has in the works, with its New York location the most advanced.