Demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids continues to grow, as evidenced not only by sales figures but also by a new study.
According to servicing provider mycar’s 2026 Mobility Index, a total of 46 per cent of Australian vehicle owners plan on buying an EV or hybrid for their next vehicle purchase, up from 36 per cent in 2025.
The finding comes from a study of 2025 vehicle owners in Australia aged over 18, conducted by Lonergan Research in April 2026.
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This means the survey was conducted shortly after fuel prices surged in Australia, leading the Australian Government to temporarily cut the fuel excise. The following month, EV sales surged 111.6 per cent year-on-year to reach a record 19.9 per cent share of the overall new-vehicle market.
Fuel prices have subsequently fallen back to earth, though the fuel excise reduction was partially removed on July 1, 2026 and will be removed entirely on August 2.
But while fuel prices have proved eye-opening in recent months, the mycar study found there are still various barriers to EV adoption.
A third of Australians questioned whether an EV could be relied on for regional and long-distance driving, while 23 per cent of vehicle owners cited the upfront cost of EVs and hybrids as prohibitively high in an environment where interest rates have risen and cost-of-living pressures have mounted.
The biggest concerns of combustion-powered vehicle drivers around EVs and hybrids were reliability (45 per cent), running costs (44 per cent), and vehicle performance (43 per cent).
Those who have been able to afford to move to an EV or hybrid are largely enjoying it, the study found. A total of 86 per cent of EV and hybrid owners surveyed reported being satisfied with their ownership experience.
More and more brands – primarily Chinese – have entered our market, offering increasingly affordable hybrid and EV options. However, the study found 31 per cent of vehicle owners remain uncertaint about whether new brands to our market can be trusted for safety and long-term reliability.
Deepal, Leapmotor and Xpeng entered the Australian market late in 2024, with Omoda Jaecoo following in 2025, the same year Geely returned after more than a decade off the Australian market.
This year, distributor Ateco Automotive announced it was bringing the Forthing brand to Australia, which will offer the market’s cheapest mid-size electric SUV.