In 2019, China was a minor player in Australia’s car market. Seven years later, it’s now the biggest supplier of new vehicles overall – including about 80% of Australia’s electric vehicles (EVs). The shift to EVs has accelerated markedly this year amid oil price spikes.

This is good news for Australia’s energy security and efforts to tackle climate change. But to get the most out of electric cars, vans and trucks from China, Australian authorities need better data on how they are designed.

Better data will integrate growing EV numbers in ways that help the Australian economy, not just carmakers.

Decades in the making

It took sustained state investment and planning to turn China’s carmakers from minnows into giants, as part of wider investment in clean technology.

China’s electric vehicle industry has become the global benchmark for mass‑produced affordable EVs and, increasingly, for trucks and buses.

Australia’s car market is one of the most competitive in the world – and becoming even more so. For Australian buyers, China’s surging EV production translates to rapidly increasing numbers of competitively priced EVs from brands not even on the radar ten years ago.

As a result, Australia’s EV transition is taking off. Battery electric, plug-in hybrid and hybrid vehicles now make up close to half of new sales.........

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