Love it or hate it, the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) appears to be working.
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Well, at least in part.
For those unfamiliar, the Federal Government’s goal is to get more hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, and to incentivise that it will punish brands that exceed the emissions targets it has set. But car companies will get emissions ‘credits’ for every electric vehicle (EV) they sell, which puts the onus on car makers to sell more EVs.
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Which explains why every brand from Alfa Romeo to Zeekr is looking to sell more EVs (or plug-in hybrids that help lower the average fleet emission figure) as soon as possible.
It also explains why there are some increasingly large EV discounts and more and more affordable EVs hitting the market.
For a prime example of this, look no further than Hyundai’s recent announcement of huge discounts across its Kona range, which coincides with the upcoming launch of another new EV model for the brand (its sixth electric option), the Elexio.
When we say ‘huge discounts’ that’s not hyperbole, the Kona Electric has been slashed by up to $13,857 on some variants. Every electric Kona variant has been cut by at least $13k, in a likely sign Hyundai Australia is looking to get itself as many EV credits as possible to compensate for the rest of its line-up.
Another way to look at this is, Hyundai is effectively making a choice to take a financial hit to help its wider business, and rather than take the hit in the form of a fine, it’s turning it into a positive and handing a massive price saving to potential customers.
These price cuts happened to coincide with Hyundai Australia’s new - and independently run - finance arm, Hyundai Capital Australia, striking a deal with the Federal Government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
The CEFC will commit $60 million to Hyundai Capital, allowing the business to offer discounted interest rates to EV customers for both Hyundai and Kia electric models under the luxury car tax, further stimulating sales.
Or at least that is the hope from the government’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.
“This CEFC investment will help lower the cost barrier for households and small businesses, making EV ownership more accessible,” Minister Bowen said.
“Transport is one of our biggest sources of emissions, and electric vehicles are a key way we cut pollution while saving people money.”
At the same time, several other brands are introducing more affordable EVs that are either close to parity with petrol-powered rivals, or in some cases cheaper, further lowering the barriers to entry.
The BYD Atto 1 is the prime example of this trend. Starting at just $23,990 (plus on-road costs) it’s the cheapest EV on sale at the time of publication. By contrast, the petrol-powered Mazda2 starts at $28,190 and the Toyota Yaris Hybrid starts at $28,990.
The BYD Dolphin and Atto 2, GWM Ora, MG4, Chery E5, Leapmotor B10 and Hyundai Inster can all be purchased for less than $40,000 drive-away.
Australians are increasingly adopting EVs, with the more than 100,000 battery-powered vehicles sold in 2025. That took the overall percentage of the new car market to 8.3 per cent, which is small but growing. And it’s likely to continue to grow if EVs continue to get more affordable as NVES and other factors push car companies to find ways to make them more appealing to customers.
