What electric vehicle incentives are on offer in Australia?

EV Guide: Australian electric vehicle incentives by state

If rising fuel prices have got you thinking your next car purchase might be an electric vehicle – this one's for you.

Find out what incentives are on offer in your part of the country, what the infrastructure is like (or will be in the years to come) and if that state or territory government has plans to bring in a road-user charge for EVs.

JUMP AHEAD

• Federal
• New South Wales
• Victoria
• Queensland
• ACT
• NT
• Tasmania
• South Australia
• Western Australia

9

Federal

Incentives

• There are no direct Federal incentives to purchase an electric vehicle, though the Labour Government did launch its first ever electric vehicle strategy in September 2022, which is currently open for consultation.

Tax

• The Luxury Car Tax threshold for low-emission vehicles has been raised to $84,916, from the standard vehicle starting rate of $71,849.
• The new Government has included in its 2022/23 budget plans to remove the Fringe Benefits Tax and five per cent import tariff for EVs priced under the LCT limit.
  
  The FBT savings amount to $9000 per annum for an employer, or $4700 for an individual with a salary sacrifice agreement for a $50k electric vehicle.
  
  Cutting import tariffs drops purchase prices by a further $2500, according to the documents.

Charging network

• Federal EV infrastructure funding is through the Future Fuels Fund, run by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). It included a first-round investment of $24.5 million to co-fund the rollout of 400 public fast-charging stations with the private sector.
  
  More recently in the 2022/23 Budget, Labour announced a $500 million ‘Driving The Nation Fund’, which includes rolling out 117 EV charging stations and hydrogen refuelling stations for key freight routes.

Uptake goal

• Net-zero by 2050 and a 43 per cent reduction in CO2 levels by 2030 – now passed into law late 2022.

To help bolster the second hand EV market, as well as cut CO2 outputs, the Government has pledged 75 per cent of its fleet will be made up of battery EVs by 2025. Small businesses are being encouraged to decarbonise with a $62.6 million funding package, including for electrification of fleets.

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Comparisons

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9 Dec 20226

New South Wales

Incentives

• $3000 rebate for the first 25,000 EVs or FCEVs sold which are priced under $68,750 – but read the fine print, the offer is on the RRP plus the delivery charge and optional extras
• Stamp duty waived on both types of vehicle under $78,000 – all from September 1, 2021
• EV drivers can also use T2 and T3 transit lanes across NSW.
• Registration fee discounts.

Tax

• 2.5c/km BEV, 2c/km PHEV – but only as of July 1, 2027

Charging network

• $171 million investment in infrastructure, including; $131m on ultra-fast chargers
• $20m in grants for destination points and $20m for topping up at public transport hubs
• Working to deliver 20 fast chargers along the state’s major highways in partnership with NRMA.

Uptake goal

• 50 per cent of all new cars sold to be EVs by 2030
• Net-zero by 2050.

Click here for more on NSW's plans.

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9

Victoria

Incentives

• $3000 subsidy given for the first 20,000 EVs or FCEVs sold which are priced under $68,740, as with NSW the offer is on the RRP plus the delivery charge and optional extras
• Reduced stamp duty rates
• $100 discount on registration annually.

Tax

• 2.5c/km BEV, 2c/km PHEV from July 1, 2021

Charging network

• $19 million will fund plans to quadruple the number of new charging stations state-wide – focusing on regional Victoria and popular tourist sites.
• $5 million Destination Charging Across Victoria Program will lead to the installation of an additional 141 fast-charging stations in homes.

Uptake goal

• 50 per cent of all new cars sold to be EVs by 2030 and 100 percent by 2040
• Net-zero by 2050
• $10 million to add 400 EVs to the Government’s fleet in the next two years.

Click here for more on Victoria's plans.

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9

Queensland

Incentives

• $3,000 rebate for new BEVs up to $58,000 on 15,000 cars as of July 1, 2022, like the other states the offer is on the RRP plus the delivery charge and optional extras
• Lowest car registration for BEVs – $263 a year
• Lower stamp duty rates than ICE cars.

Tax

• No plans at this time.

Charging network

• Queensland has invested in an ‘Electric Super Highway’, currently the longest electric fast charging highway in the world (in a single state) with 31 EV plug-in sites running from the Gold Coast to Cairns and west from Brisbane to Toowoomba
• Eighteen new charging sites will be added to the Super Highway in phase 3 of the Government’s strategy, spreading into regional Queensland
• $10 million to build more charging stations (corr. as of March 2022).

Uptake goal

• As of June 1, 2021, there were 4743 BEVs registered in Queensland, 76 per cent up on the year before
• 288 EVs in Government’s fleet by end of 2022.

Click here for more on QLD's plans.

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9

Australian Capital Territory

Incentives

• Two years’ free registration for BEVs and FCEVs as of May 24, 2021
• Older EVs eligible for 20 per cent off rego fees
• Stamp duty may also be waived on vehicles purchased for the first time
• ACT drivers are also able to access up to $15,000 in interest-free loans to help cover the upfront purchase cost of an electric vehicle up to a cap of $77,565.

Tax

• None yet – Distance and/or congestion based charging for all vehicle types “may be considered in the medium term”.

Charging network

• Currently, there are 42 public charging locations in the ACT – with 50 more coming next year.

Uptake goal

• As of May 2021 ACT “fast approaching 1,000 registered electric vehicles
• Net-zero emissions (not just from cars) by 2050.

Click here for more on the ACT's plans.

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9

Northern Territory

Incentive

• BEVs and PHEVs to get cheaper rego and stamp duty from July 2022, the latter slashed by $1500
• Discounts to last five years
• Grants for home, workplace and public EV chargers, and opportunities offered to develop local skills to service technology and install infrastructure.

Tax

• None – No current proposal, could possibly be in the long term.

Charging network

• Currently has 32 charging stations – 30 public and two high-powered. The Territory Government plans to install a minimum of 400 charging points at its buildings.

Uptake goal

• In February 2019 (the latest data the NT Government could provide) there were 35 EVs registered in the Northern Territory, including 33 light and two heavy vehicles, representing 0.02 per cent of the total Northern Territory vehicle fleet
• No date yet set for what percentage of vehicle should be EVs
• Government fleet to increase to 200 vehicles by 2030.

Click here for more on the NT's plans.

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9

Tasmania

Incentives

• Two years’ free stamp duty for new and second-hand EVs as of July 1, 2021
• Two years’ free rego on EVs purchased by car rental companies and coach operators.

Tax

• Not plans at this time but will monitor based on what’s happening in other states.

Charging network

• 12 fast chargers plus $600,000 in grants committed to growing the network in regional areas and tourist hotspots.

Uptake goal

• 100 per cent of Government’s fleet to be electric by 2030.

Click here for more on Tasmania's plans.

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9

South Australia

Incentives

• 7000 subsidies worth $3000 taken off purchase price at point of sale, for a limited (unspecified) time only up to value of $68,750 – this one is tricky, SA says the offer "may or may not" include the delivery charge and optional extras depending on whether it is used to calculate stamp duty
• Three years free registration
• Up to $2000 to install EV smart chargers at home, but limited to 7500 households.

Tax

• EV tax pushed back from July 1, 2022 to July 1, 2027 or 30 per cent uptake (whichever comes first) – same as NSW
• 2c/km km for plug-in hybrid vehicles, and 2.5c/km for any other electric vehicles
• Calculated and billed in arrears as part of the vehicle registration process and based on the distance travelled since the last renewal.

Charging network

• Investing $13.4million in its charging network – increasing points to 530 state-wide, most of which will have a 7kW capacity.

Uptake goal

• SA Government aims for EVs to be “common choice” by 2030 and the “default” by 2035
• Incorporating PHEVs into its own fleet as costs become more competitive, with a goal of its vehicles being fully electric by 2030.

Click here for more on SA's plans.

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9

Western Australia

Incentives

• EVs exempt from 10 per cent on-demand transport levy
• Largest incentive offer in Australia – $3500 rebate for the first 10,000 Western Australians to buy an EV or FCEV from May 10, applying to vehicles under $70,000 before on-road costs, note the offer is on the RRP plus the delivery charge and optional extras.

Tax

• EV tax to start from July 1, 2027
• 2c/km km for plug-in hybrid vehicles, and 2.5c/km for any other electric vehicles.

Charging network

• 235 charging stations of varying capacity ranging from <22kW to 350kW
• Plan to create Australia’s longest EV fast charging network adding 45 new points, expected to be up and running by 2024
• $22.6 million will be put towards upgrading, expanding and improving WA's electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• This includes: $10m allocated towards supporting not-for-profit and small to medium-sized businesses with grants of up to half of the cost of installing charging infrastructure, $5m in grants for local government chargers; $4m for the Public Transport Authority to trial the installation of up to 20 charging bays at four train stations; and more than $2.9m for eight new points across four locations on a section of National Highway 1 between Norseman and Eucla.

Uptake goal

• Twenty-five per cent of Government's fleet electric by 2025/26
• Net zero by 2050.

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