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

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EV sales in February have rebounded strongly from a slow January, taking an 11.8 per cent share of the total new car market, up from 8.4% a month earlier, and led by a resurgent Tesla, as well as Chinese EV makers BYD and Zeekr.

The main drive was the lift in sales from Tesla’s still limited EV lineup, which showed strong sales growth during the month, accounting for over 3,200 sales. BYD sales – which led in January – also remained strong with 2,969 during the month and it was notable that China, for the first time, was the biggest source of new cars in Australia for the first time.

The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) shows that 7,715 battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in February.

The total vehicles for the month came in just over 90,000 vehicles sold during the month, tallying up to 94,131 when EVC data was combined with the FCAI vFacts data.

Most major EV makers had multiple incentives during February, which contributed to these sales as well as the broader availability of some recently launched affordable EV models.

This is also a big jump over last year, when EVs only accounted for 5.9% in February 2025, compared to the 11.8% in February 2026.

EV Sales Breakdown – February 2026

FCAI vFacts	7,715
EVC (Polestar + Tesla)	3,419
EV Sales Total (FCAI + EVC)	11,134
Total Vehicle Sales (FCAI + EVC)	94,131

EV sales over the first 2 months of 2025 totalled 9,516, and 2026 shows 18,543 electric cars made it onto the road so far this year. 

In February, PHEV sales saw an increase from previous months, with 5,854 PHEVs sold during the month which was up from 4,871 sold last year during the same period.

Looking into the EV models that made up the top 5, the Tesla Model Y bounced back to the top with 2,971 sales and BYD’s Sealion 7 SUV came in the second spot with 1,327 sales. 

The third spot stood out with Zeekr’s 7X, raking in 628 sales in its second month of deliveries. Tesla Model 3 and Geely EX5 made up the rest of the top 5.

Other notable mentions are the BYD Atto 1, Australia’s cheapest EV, which saw 349 sales in its highest month of sales to date.

The best-selling EVs in February 2026 were:

• Tesla Model Y – 2,791 sales
• BYD Sealion 7 – 1,327 sales
• Zeekr 7X – 628 sales
• Tesla Model 3 – 483 sales
• Geely EX5 – 416 sales
• MG MG4 – 406 sales
• BYD Atto 3 – 384 sales
• Omoda Jaecoo J5 – 369 sales
• BYD Atto 1 – 349 sales
• BYD Atto 2 – 347 sales
• BYD Seal – 302 sales

The Driven is waiting to hear back from various manufacturers regarding sales of some EV models, and this will be updated once they are received. 

February also marked the first month when vehicles made in China overtook Japan. “After 28 years, Japan has been overtaken by China as the largest source of vehicles for the Australian market in a single month,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber said.

“The Australian market is one of the most open and competitive in the world. New brands can enter, establish dealer networks and compete on price, technology and design. Consumers are the beneficiaries of that competition.”

The uptick in sales shows solid growth compared to previous years, with a ramp-up in incentives for February, leading to YTD EV sales almost doubling in 2026, making it the strongest year for BEV uptake so far. 

See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.