Low-emission vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in Australia’s second-hand car market as motorists strive to conserve fuel.

But hybrid vehicles, rather than electric models, are proving to be in highest demand and the most resistant to price reductions.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association and AutoGrab revealed the trends on Tuesday in used car sales figures from May, which also showed the automotive market had bounced back from a sales dip in April.

The news comes one week after new hybrid and electric vehicles sales broke records to represent almost half of all new cars sold in Australia during the month.

The latest sales report showed Australian drivers bought 221,323 second-hand vehicles during May – a rise of more than 17,700 cars compared to April.

Standard hybrid vehicles made up one in 10 used cars up to five years of age, while electric and plug-in hybrid models represented six per cent of sales.

The trend towards low-emission cars reflected consumer efforts to avoid petrol and diesel price rises caused by conflict in the Middle East, association chief executive James Voortman said.

“It’s no surprise to see hybrids performing so strongly,” he said.

“With household budgets still under pressure, many consumers are looking for ways to reduce fuel costs and hybrids offer a practical and proven solution.”

Hybrid cars were also the most likely to withstand discounting to secure a sale, the report found, and retained 93.4 per cent of their value.

By contrast, more than half of second-hand petrol and diesel vehicles were discounted before finding a buyer in May, which Mr Voortman said showed consumers were in the driver’s seat.

“The increase in discounting reflects a strong level of competition in the used vehicle market at the moment,” he said.

“Buyers are in a good position to compare options and negotiate on price.”

The report came on the same day BYD Australia revealed it had signed a three-year deal with Pickles to auction its second-hand fleet vehicles.

The agreement was another sign that Australia’s used electric vehicle market had evolved, Pickles motor vehicles general manager Chris Shaw said, and the move would make them accessible to a wider motoring audience

“We’re seeing increased confidence in used electric vehicles from both private buyers and the trade as the market develops, pricing becomes more accessible, and understanding of EV ownership continues to improve,” he said.

AAP

HYUNDAI Motor Company Australia (HMCA) has significantly reduced pricing across its Kona Electric and Ioniq 5 model ranges, slashing manufacturer list prices by $8000 as part of a broader push to boost the appeal of its battery-electric vehicle line-up.

The revised pricing, effective immediately, sees the Kona Electric range start from $46,000 + ORC while the larger Ioniq 5 now opens at $68,200 + ORC.

Pricing of the performance-focused Ioniq 5 N remains unaffected by the changes.

The move comes on top of Hyundai’s previously announced End of Financial Year (EOFY) offers covering a range of petrol and hybrid models, as well as finance incentives.

A key change to the Kona Electric range is the introduction of a new Elite grade, creating a three-tier line-up that more closely mirrors the structure of the petrol and hybrid Kona family.

The revised range now consists of Standard Range, Elite, and Premium variants, broadening customer choice while lowering the entry point to Hyundai’s small electric SUV.

Hyundai says the pricing adjustments are accompanied by minor specification revisions across both the Kona Electric and Ioniq 5 line-ups.

For the Ioniq 5 range, the Premium N Line variant now receives leather sports seats featuring N logos in place of the previously fitted suede upholstery.

The updated Ioniq 5 line-up continues to offer Hyundai’s E-GMP dedicated EV architecture, ultra-fast charging capability and vehicle-to-load functionality, while the lower pricing brings the medium-sized electric SUV closer to key rivals in the increasingly competitive EV segment.

The revised Kona Electric and Ioniq 5 ranges are available to order now, with dealer arrivals commencing this month.

HMCA chief operating officer Gavin Donaldson said the repositioned pricing strengthened the appeal of the brand’s expanding electrified vehicle portfolio.

“With a diverse portfolio spanning light, small, medium and large SUVs, our award-winning EV line-up has never been more appealing, offering even better value and choice to Australian buyers,” he said.

The pricing overhaul follows a period of intensifying competition in Australia’s EV market, where manufacturers continue to adjust pricing and specifications in response to growing consumer choice and softer demand conditions.

• Stellantis will build Dongfeng’s Voyah EVs in France through a new European joint venture.
• The deal follows Stellantis’ Leapmotor tie-up, which already brings Chinese EV production to Spain.
• Chinese automakers are turning to European assembly to blunt tariffs and gain a local foothold.

Stellantis, the automotive conglomerate that owns Jeep, Ram, and 12 other car brands, has just announced a joint venture agreement with China’s Dongfeng to build Voyah EVs in one of its European factories. It already has a similar deal with Leapmotor, under which the latter is assembling its vehicles at a Stellantis plant in Spain to bypass import tariffs these vehicles would have faced if they were manufactured in China.

Chinese EVs face an additional import duty of up to 35% in the EU, on top of the existing 10% import tariff. This hasn’t stopped Chinese automakers from bringing their vehicles over and undercutting local competition, but building them locally is an even better deal for the automakers.

The new Dongfeng deal focuses on the Stellantis plant in Rennes, France. It can accommodate up to three production lines and, at its peak, produced 400,000 vehicles per year, but now it only produces the Citroen C5 Aircross, using only a third of its capacity. Dongfeng will also build Peugeot and Jeep vehicles in China as part of the same deal.

Stellantis already knows the playbook through its tie-up with Leapmotor (in which it holds a controlling share). The Chinese manufacturer initially began production of the T03 electric city car in Poland, but production there was halted in March last year, and it now builds the B10 electric crossover at the Stellantis factory in Zaragoza, Spain. 

Reuters says Leapmotor is looking to expand its collaboration with Stellantis and identify which of Stellantis’ European factories have unused production capacity to build its own models. Leapmotor will also be providing the platform and key components for a new Opel electric crossover, making it one of the first European-badged vehicles built on fully Chinese underpinnings.

Other Chinese automakers have also begun efforts to localize production in Europe. BYD is the most famous in this respect with the huge factory it’s building in Hungary. Chery has partnered with Spain’s Ebro to use the former Nissan plant in Barcelona, while Xpeng and GAC have turned to Austria’s Magna Steyr to assemble cars in Europe.

Europe’s tariffs were designed to protect its car industry from cheaper Chinese EVs, but they may end up accelerating a different kind of Chinese expansion. Instead of simply importing finished cars from China, automakers are now looking for factories, partners, and production footholds inside Europe itself.

For Stellantis, this gives underused plants the prospect of more work and potentially gives its European brands access to cheaper, faster-moving EV technology. Chinese automakers need to get around tariffs and find a path into the market. It’s increasingly looking like Europe’s next wave of affordable EVs may not be imported from China. They may be Chinese-engineered cars built in European factories, sometimes wearing badges buyers already know.

The Tesla Model Y may well be facing a major challenge from the BYD Sealion 7 when it comes to its ranking of best-selling EVs in Australia, but it remains the dominant choice when it comes to fleet owners.

A new report from Origin Energy, the country’s biggest electricity retailer, notes that 27 per cent of the EVs in its leasing and subscription program are Tesla Model Y electric SUVs, more than double the next most popular electric cars, the Kia EV5 and the VW ID.4.

The data is included in a “lessons learned” report delivered as part of the obligations of Origin’s Fleet Electrification program that has been partly funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency.

The program aims to deliver 1,000 EVs to the fleet program, but Origin says the transition has been hindered by the lack of good electric ute options.

“Passenger vehicle choice is no longer a barrier for most take-home fleets,” Origin writes.”

“Utes are a different story. Despite making up around 22% of new vehicle sales, there’s limited EV ute options, and those that are available cost more than the ICE equivalent and have limited range.”

And it notes that only two new electric utes have entered the Australian market over the past year. (And one electric ute, the Ford F150 Lightning, is no longer available).

As a result, just 5.2 per cent of Origin’s lease and subscription sales over the reporting period were utes – and all of these were the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrids.

Origin says that for most fleet managers, the decision to go electric comes down to cost, and if the total cost of ownership (TCO) isn’t lower than an equivalent ICE vehicle, “it halts most decisions – any emissions benefit is a bonus, not a driver.”

Still, Origin says it is starting to see a shift. “A small but growing number of customers, particularly in carbon-intensive industries like construction, are now treating emissions reduction as equally important as cost when making fleet decisions.”

That it says is being driven by a couple of factors, including Australia’s own efforts to reduce emissions and by pressure from overseas, particularly on the Australian divisions of companies that operate internationally.

The other major observation from Origin was on the clear preference on “take-home” vehicles, given that these qualify for the federal government’s FBT exemptions, while pool cars do not.

“The sales Origin is making are almost entirely concentrated where customers can access the FBT exemption,” it says, adding that charger funding by ARENA has not been sufficient to close the TCO (total cost of ownership) gap on pool vehicles.

That said, the issues around home charging also needed to be resolved, including developing systems that allowed employees to have their home charging costs covered by their employer, in much the same way as occurs with fuel cards.

“Managing public charging remains an admin burden for fleet managers and drivers – multiple apps, cards and expense claims across different networks,” it notes.

“Origin’s had strong uptake on it’s OneCharge solution that helps solve this, by centralising charger activation and billing across six of the major public charging networks, and aggregating costs onto the fleet bill.”

It concludes: “Driver and fleet manager hesitation is real, but manageable – flexible trials, data-driven suitability tools, and hands-on experience all play a role in converting interest into commitment.

“Vehicle availability is improving for passenger fleets, but the ute segment remains a significant gap that limits electrification for a large portion of the Australian fleet market.”

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Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.

• The vast majority of electric vehicles are holding on to their original range even after years of driving, according to a new report.
• Even after three to five years, the range retention on modern battery-powered cars is impressive.
• Automakers have started including buffers to minimize perceived degradation.

Electric vehicles are holding on to their range far better than many buyers expect, and now fresh data from more than a billion miles of real-world driving is backing that up in a new way. In addition to constantly improving battery technology, automakers are also using software to keep the driving range more consistent over a period of time.

EV analytics firm Recurrent said in a report on Thursday that most EVs on the market lose very little usable range in their first several years on the road. The average EV now retains 97% of its range after three years of ownership and 95% after five years on the road. Put simply, an EV with 300 miles of range when new should still deliver 291 miles after three years and 285 miles after five, according to Recurrent.

Photo by: Patrick George

Range anxiety has long been one of the biggest barriers for EV buyers, even though there’s now a robust number of EVs on sale today across segments with at least 300 miles of EPA range. Many new EVs in premium segments are pushing over 400 and even 500 miles of range. However, it’s not always about how far a car can go when new. The other question is what happens after a few years of ownership. 

That’s where the new data helps cut through the noise. Strong range retention can support resale values, make used EVs less risky, and give buyers more confidence that they are not settling for something subpar compared to combustion vehicles. 

Recurrent used historical data to come to this conclusion. About 68% of model year 2023 EVs are still exceeding their EPA range today, the firm said. However, it is using a slightly different metric called Expected Range, derived from real-world driving data that factors in things like climate, driving conditions, and battery age. It also projected that a model year 2026 EV with 325 miles of range, for example, will still deliver 301 miles of range in 2031.

According to the report, EV brands with no significant range loss after five years of ownership include Cadillac, Ford, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Rivian. 

There are a bunch of reasons why this is happening. Automakers are able to minimize range loss over the years by releasing reserve battery capacity and tuning range algorithms with over-the-air software updates as the vehicles age, Recurrent said. Many include a “buffer” of unused cell capacity early on, which allows the car to automatically unlock that capacity later on to erase the effects of degradation.

Photo by: Lucid Motors

But that’s not it. Automakers and battery companies have been laser-focused on improving the underlying battery tech. Batteries now get a higher energy density, translating to more miles from a similar-sized pack. Things like a cell-to-pack design reduces weight, so more of the car’s floor can store energy. Add to that sophisticated thermal management systems, aerodynamic improvements, and the gains are happening without needing dramatically bigger packs or different chemistries.

In fact, InsideEVs’ own analysis projects that the U.S. will have over 60 EVs with over 300 miles of range by the end of this year, up from 43 last year and 35 the year before. Of course, driving range largely varies across models and segments and continues to be impacted by the weather, driving styles, and road conditions. But with the U.S. public charging infrastructure also growing quickly, range anxiety is increasingly becoming a problem of the past. 

Contact the author: suvrat.kothari@insideevs.com

South Korea car giant Hyundai says it has experienced a massive surge in interest in electric vehicles, which now account for 20 per cent of its order volume, up from 3 per cent before the fuel supply crisis emerged after the breakout of the latest Middle East war.

The company says it has seen a more than four-fold increase in EV orders in March – up to 1,037 from 228 in February – with the Kona EV and the newly released Elexio leading the way.

“EVs now account for 20% of our volume – previously we were at less than 3%,” said Hyundai Motor Company Australia director of sales, David Rodda. “We are planning for a 70% increase in EV orders for the second quarter over Q1.”

Rodda says Hyundai Australia has  secured a 158% supply increase of EVs for quarter two to meet this unprecedented level of demand, and these vehicles will start to arrive from May. It is confident the increased supply can continue for the rest of the year.

Hyundai says it has a supply of 1,226 Kona EVs for the second quarter, up from 305 in the March quarter, and also has 1,180 of the new Elexio EVs, up from 750 in the first quarter. Wait times are several months.

It is also increasing its supply of the small Inster (to 255 from 84), and the Ioniq 5 (to 150 from 96). It says the order level in March and April is triple the level of January and February for the Kona, Inster and Ioniq 5, and more than 10-fold for the Elexio.

Hyundai also provided this week by week data of its order numbers, showing the surge in interest in the 3rd and 4th week of March.

Hyundai says it expects to boost order with the release of the Ioniq 3 hatch early next year and the Staria commercial van later this year. It is also seeing a strong interest in hybrid orders, which rose to 3,966 in March from 3,049 in February, and accounted for a record 57 per cent of total orders in March.

See The Driven’s detailed EV sales data here: Australian electric vehicle sales by month in 2026; by model and by brand

Sign up for The Driven’s free daily newsletter by going to the button on the bottom right of the website’s home page at www.thedriven.io

Giles Parkinson is founder and editor of The Driven, and also edits and founded the Renew Economy and One Step Off The Grid web sites. He has been a journalist for nearly 40 years, is a former business and deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review, and owns a Tesla Model 3.

• The funky, retro-looking Renault 4 electric crossover is getting a new feature that harks back to the original.
• The addition is part of a minor technical upgrade that comes just one year after the car went on sale in Europe.
• New stuff includes a water-to-water heat exchanger that can significantly reduce charging times in freezing weather.

The Renault 4 is one of the happiest EVs out there, with its unashamedly retro looks that hark back to the original do-it-all hatchback of the 1960s. And now, the French automaker is giving the Renault 4 EV a new feature that makes it even cooler–literally and figuratively.

Just like its predecessor, the Renault 4 E-Tech Electric can now be specced with a retractable fabric roof that transforms the battery-powered hatchback into a cut-price convertible at the push of a button. Renault has even launched a special trim called Plein Sud, which means “due south,” that is obviously inspired by the historic Renault 4’s Plein Air variant that was offered in Europe in the late 1960s.

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Source: Renault

That said, the Plein Air didn’t have doors, a roof, or a tailgate, while the electric Plein Sud has to settle for a more toned-down approach. (Blame those pesky safety regulations, I guess.) If buying a special edition car just for a soft top isn’t your cup of tea, then you should know that Renault also offers the retractable roof on the regular versions of the R4 EV, too, except for the entry-level trim.

The roof’s opening is 36 inches (92 centimeters) long and 31 in (80 cm) wide, and it increases the headroom for the driver and front passenger. However, because the mechanism itself takes up extra space compared to the fixed-roof car, rear passengers get roughly 1.5 in (4 cm) less headroom.

Renault says the roof can be partially or completely opened, and that the load-bearing parts are made of plastic to save weight.

Besides the new soft top, every new Renault 4 sold in Europe gets a revised driver monitoring system that detects fatigue and distraction, and will brake to a standstill if needed. A new water-to-water heat exchanger is also part of the pack, which is said to significantly reduce charging times at freezing temperatures.

America’s electric car market is not very hot right now, with experts estimating that sales in this year’s first quarter dropped by 28%. It wasn’t great last year, either, with a 2% decrease, thanks in no small part to the cancellation of the $7,500 federal tax credit.

Meanwhile, Europe is seeing a huge uptick in electric car sales. Last year, numbers went up by nearly 30%, and the first months of 2026 gave no sign of slowing down. I can’t help but wonder: Could some of the best EVs in Europe make a difference if they were sold stateside?

Canada is preparing to open the floodgates to Chinese-made EVs, which are bound to stir some controversy. But you won’t see any of those in the U.S. Still, European companies have plenty of EVs that I think could do pretty well in America—as long as they are priced right. (I think we can all agree that nobody wants another Volvo EX30 story.)

Photo by: Cupra

Cupra Born

• Price in Europe: from €40,450 ($46,700)
• Range: from 428 km (266 miles) WLTP

Cupra, one of the many brands under the Volkswagen Group’s umbrella, seemed prepared to land in the United States, but that plan has been put on the back burner for now, seeing how the car market there isn’t exactly stable.

If the brand were to come stateside, the Born four-door electric hatchback would take on rivals such as the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt EV. Cupra’s compact offering is based on the same underpinnings as the Volkswagen ID.3, which was once hailed as the electric alternative to the iconic Golf.

The difference between the ID.3 and Born is that the latter is much more fun to drive, thanks to a revised chassis setup and its rear-wheel drive powertrain. You might have to explain to your friends what car you’re driving more than once, but if you don’t want a boring commuter car, this would be great.

The base trim gets 204 horsepower, while the sporty spec goes up to 326 hp.

Photo by: Fiat

Fiat Grande Panda

• Price in Europe: from €24,990 ($28,900)
• Range: from 320 km (199  miles) WLTP

Fiat’s U.S. portfolio only includes the electric 500e, which is quite the fashionable urban runabout. But it’s expensive and cramped inside. The new Grande Panda EV would right both of these wrongs, with a bigger—albeit more stripped down—cabin and a lower price tag.

Mind you, this is still a small car, but at least it has four doors. Plus, it’s one of the most unpretentious EVs out there, with a no-nonsense attitude. It even has a built-in Level 2 charging cable tucked in the nose. Plus it has chunky styling that gives it a better presence than city cars that failed to take off in the U.S. 

Photo by: Andrei Nedelea

Renault 5

• Price in Europe: from €28,000 ($32,350)
• Range: from 312 km (194  miles) WLTP

Remember the Le Car? Probably not, but I’m here to help. It was Renault’s attempt at selling the original Renault 5 in the United States. Suffice to say, it didn’t go well, but the good news is that there’s a brand-new Renault 5 in Europe.

It’s only available as an electric car, and it’s a fantastic one at that. It looks great, it drives nicely, and it doesn’t break the bank. Plus, you can get a baguette holder as an official accessory. Again, small hatchbacks haven’t exactly been popular in the U.S. historically. But come on, look at this thing. 

Volkswagen ID.7

• Price in Europe: from €54,505 ($62,900)
• Range: from 599 km (372 miles) WLTP

The Volkswagen ID.7 is the only car on this list that had a real chance of being sold stateside before the German automaker changed its mind and pulled the plug, citing “the ongoing challenging EV climate.”

Positioned as the all-electric alternative to the Passat sedan, the ID.7 is a very smooth road-tripping machine, as our former editor-in-chief found out after driving the battery-powered sedan on Germany’s Autobahn. And now that the Tesla Model S is out of the picture, the ID.7 would make for a great alternative. There’s also a wagon version, which I have personally shortlisted for my next car purchase.