Queensland just became the best state to buy an EV in Australia

Queensland just took the lead as the best state in Australia to buy an EV right now. The state just doubled its former rebate amount, leaving every other state and territory in its rearview mirror.

The announcement came at the end of last week, with Queensland bumping its EV rebate from $3,000 to $6,000 for households with an income under $180,000 a year. It has also increased the vehicle eligibility from $58,000 to EVs that cost under $68,000. This is all part of its Zero Emission Rebate Scheme.

“We want more zero-emission vehicles on Queensland roads with Queensland families to have access to cheaper and cleaner vehicles,” the minister for energy, renewables and hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, said in a statement.

“This is about making EVs more affordable and more accessible to all Queenslanders to slash emissions and act on climate change with cleaner technology. The scheme has already proven popular, and we anticipate this will increase further with the higher threshold and rebate amount.”

The next best rebate on offer is from Western Australia, which is at $3500 for EVs under $70,000 for the first 10,000 buyers.

The state of EV encouragement in Australia

Australia’s uptake of EVs has been slow to say the least. And it’s not surprising. Expensive prices, a lack of carbon emissions standards for vehicles and taxes — there are a lot of roadblocks. And when it comes to incentives it’s a mixed bag that largely relies on and varies between the states and territories. But which one is the best right now?

We’ve dug through all the current offerings in each state and territory and at the time of writing, the best place in Australia to buy an EV is Queensland.

This may very well change in the future, and we’ll be keeping this article updated. But at the present time, Queensland has a good mix of tax breaks, discounts and public infrastructure pledges to make it one of the better places in the country to not only buy but continue running an EV.

When it comes to the ‘worst’ state for EV uptake, it’s somewhat relative. For example, it would be easy to say the Northern Territory due to the lack of public infrastructure. But it does have some incentives and population density alone means that there are fewer Aussies buying EVs in the NT.

Personally, I would say Victoria is worse at the moment, mostly due to implementing a road user tax when less than 1% of the population actually owned an EV. Sure, it also has some rebates and tax breaks but there are stronger ones in other parts of the country. Its public charging investment is also notable, but that also means people are going to be paying more the further afield they go thanks to the road user tax.

While one could fairly argue that anyone using Victorian roads should pay their fair share, should we actually be introducing disincentives to EV uptake while also going after zero-emission targets due to climate change?

In any case, here’s what each state is currently offering for EVs so you can decide for yourself.

Federal

The Labor government has been vocal about its push towards EVs and low-emissions vehicles. It’s currently accepting submissions for a National Electric Vehicle Strategy and committed $275.4 million over six years for the Driving the Nation Fund. This aims to provide cheaper and cleaner transport across Australia.

This will include:

• $146.1 million over five years for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. This will goes towards projects that reduce emissions in the transport sector;
• $89.5 million over six years for the Hydrogen Highways initiative. This will help create hydrogen refueling stations on Australia’s busiest freight routes; and
• $39.8 million over five years for the  National Electric Vehicle Charging Network. In partnership with the NRMA, it will aim to build 117 fast charging stations on major highways across Australia.

Labor also introduced Australia’s first-ever federal tax incentives for EV uptake in its October 2022 budget. It states that some battery, hydrogen fuel cell and plug-in hybrid electric cars from fringe benefits tax and import tariffs. They will need to be below the Luxury Car Tax threshold for fuel-efficient cars (currently $84,916) and will only apply to cars purchased after July 1, 2022.

Now to be fair, this is quite vague. However, considering we haven’t had a federal incentive for EV uptake until now, it’s at least something.

For now, I’d say watch this space to see if Labor delivers – especially so close to the 2023 Federal Budget announcements.

New South Wales

Tax breaks

• No stamp duty for EVs that cost under $78,000; and
• Other EVs and PHEVs will also receive this in 2027 or when low-emissions new vehicle sales hit 30%.

Rebates or discounts

• $3,000 rebate for EVs under $68,750. This is available for the first 25,000 purchases.

Road user charges

None for now, but it’s looking to follow in Victoria’s footsteps from 2027: 2.5c/km for EVs and 2c/km for PHEVs, indexed annually.

This timeframe will be brought forward if low-emissions new vehicle sales hit 30% before then.

Public infrastructure investment

• $171 million has been pledged for a state charging network; and
• EVs can continue using transit lanes across the state until October 2023.

Government fleets and investment

• All government fleet vehicles to be EVs by 2030.

ACT

Tax breaks

• No stamp duty on EVs, hybrids and ICE vehicles that have under 130g CO2/km.

Rebates or discounts

• $15,000 interest-free loans for ‘eligible households’ under the Sustainable Household Scheme;
• Free rego for two years on new EVs; and
• 20% ongoing rego discount on EVs purchased before May 1, 2021.

Road user charges

None

Public infrastructure investment

• $1.4 million grant to bolster the ACT’s current 30 public chargers to 150 across 77 charging stations.

Government fleets and investment

• All new government fleet vehicles are EVs (with some exceptions).

Victoria

Tax breaks

• No  luxury car duty tax.

Rebates or discounts

• $3000 rebate for EVs under $68,750. This is available for the first 4,000 purchases in its first round but 20,000 rebates will be offered in total.

Road user charges

• 2.5c/km for EVs indexed annually; and
• 2c/km for PHEVs indexed annually.

Public infrastructure investment

• $19 million to accelerate chargers across regional Victoria; and
• $20 million for public ZEV bus trial.

Government fleets and investment

• $10 million to replace 400 fleet vehicles with ZEVs.

Queensland

Tax breaks

• Stamp duty reduction on EVs and PHEVs: 2% stamp duty on vehicles up to $100,000 and 4% above that.

Rebates or discounts

• $6000 rebate for individuals and businesses on EVs under $68,000.

Road user charges

None

Public infrastructure investment

• A $10 million government and industry co-fund for more public chargers across the state; and
• 24 new fast-charging locations to link more rural and regional areas to the ‘Queensland Electric Superhighway’.

Government fleets and investment

• 100% zero-emission fleet by 2026.

South Australia

Tax breaks

None

Rebates or discounts

• $3000 rebate on EVs under $68,750. This will only be available to the first 7,000 buyers; and
• Three-year rego exemption for EVs and hydrogen fuel cell cars until June 30, 2025.

Road user charges

None

Public infrastructure investment

• A state-wide charging network is in the works for 2025.

Government fleets and investment

• Government fleet to be fully EV or PHEV by 2030.

Western Australia

Tax breaks

None

Rebates or discounts

• $3500 rebate on EVs under $70,000. This will only be available to the first 10,000 buyers.

Road user charges

None until 2027

Public infrastructure investment

• Plans for a charging network between Perth and Kununurra, Esperance and Kalgoorlie.

Government fleets and investment

• 25% EV target for government fleets by 2026.

Tasmania

Tax breaks

• No stamp duty on EVs until July 2023.

Rebates or discounts

None

Road user charges

None

Public infrastructure investment

• $50,000 grants for public DC chargers;
• $2500 grants for public AC destination chargers; and
• ChargeSmart Program has delivered $600,000 in grants for fast, destination and workplace chargers.

Government fleets and investment

• 100% government EV fleet by 2030.

Northern Territory

Tax breaks

• $1500 stamp duty discount on new and used EVs between July 2022-July 2027. But they have to cost under $50,000.

Rebates or discounts

• Free rego between July 2022-July 2027; and
• Electric Vehicle Charger (Residential and Business) Grants Scheme provides 100 residential grants for $1,000 and 80 business grants for $2,500 for charger installation. A total of $300,000 has been committed.

Road user charges

None

Public infrastructure investment

Nothing solid at the moment

Government fleets and investment

• 400 chargers being installed in government buildings

This article was first published on November 11, 2022. We will be updating it as new state and federal incentives rollout.