Electric vehicle sales have gotten off to a slow start in Australia in January, but have signalled a potential changing of the guard as Chinese made EVs take the top five position, pushing long term market leader Tesla well down the order.
EVs made up 8.4% of the total new car market in January, down from 10.2% in December 2025, but up from a poor 4.4 per cent in the same month a year ago.
The latest data from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) and Electric Vehicle Council (EVC) shows that 7,409 battery electric vehicles were sold in Australia in January, ahead of plug in hybrids (5,161) and well below mild hybrids (15,131).
The decline in January 2026 over the previous month was at least partially due to a big drop in Tesla deliveries for both its Model Y and Model 3 EVs. In December, the Model Y saw almost two thousand customer deliveries across the country, but January saw those sales drop to just 288, despite multiple incentives.
The BYD Sealion 7 claimed the top spot in the market for the month, with 1,171 sales, outselling the Tesla Model Y and Model 3 combined. The recently launched affordable BYD Atto 2 took the second spot with 562 sales, while the Zeekr 7X had 418 sales, making up the top 3.
The more affordable Geely EX5 took the fourth spot with 415 sales, while the BYD Seal was the best-selling electric sedan with 295 sales, pushing the usually top-selling Tesla Model Y out of top 5 best EV sellers.
Other notable mentions in January include the country’s lowest priced EV, the newly released Atto 1 electric hatch, with 245 sales, and the Omoda Jaecoo J5 EV, with 215 sales.
The best-selling EVs in January 2026 were:
BYD Sealion 7 – 1,171 sales
BYD Atto 2 – 562 sales
Zeekr 7X – 418 sales
Geely EX5 – 415 sales
BYD Seal – 295 sales
Tesla Model Y – 288 sales
Kia EV5 – 281 sales
BYD Dolphin – 272 sales
BYD Atto 1 – 245 sales
BYD Atto 3 – 234 sales
Omoda Jaecoo J5 – 215 sales
Tesla Model 3 – 213 sales
FCAI CEO Tony Weber said: “We are seeing fewer petrol vehicles sold and rapid growth in plug‑in hybrids, while uptake of hybrid and battery electric vehicles is more stable,” FCAI CEO Tony Weber said in a statement.
After a surge in EV sales during December, which confirmed a record year for 2025, and given that January is still far stronger than the same month last year, a flurry of sale offers means that 2026 is already looking like a potential bumper year.
See full details of EV sales for each month of the year in our database here.
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.
