End of the road for Qld's electric car rebate scheme

Australia's most generous electric vehicle rebates are reaching the end of the road one year earlier than expected, with the Queensland government announcing plans to close its $45 million scheme.

Applications to Queensland's Zero Emission Vehicle Rebate Scheme will end at one minute to midnight on Monday, removing rebates of up to $6000 for eligible battery-powered vehicles.

Its closure comes after governments in Victoria and NSW removed electric car rebates ahead of schedule, although financial support remains for EV purchases in Western Australia and Tasmania.

The end of Queensland subsidies also comes despite slowing sales for electric cars, which made up 6.6 per cent of all new vehicles sold in July.

Queensland Transport Minister Bart Mellish announced the end of the state's financial support, revealing the program had helped to boost the number of electric vehicles in the state from 9100 in 2022 to more than 46,000 by July 31.

"The scheme has been an incredible success," he said.

"Queensland led the nation in supporting the purchase of new electric vehicles and assisted over 10,000 Queensland drivers to access the EV market."

The scheme, which offered rebates of $3000 or $6000 to Queensland drivers buying eligible new electric vehicles, had been designed to continue until July 2025.

Electric Vehicle Council legal, policy and advocacy head Aman Gaur said the popularity of Queensland's rebate scheme proved drivers were eager to adopt electric transport.

But he urged state governments to continue to support low-emission vehicle purchases as elements of the industry were still being established in Australia.

"While we know that electric vehicles are roughly the same price as new petrol vehicles, the second-hand market is still underdeveloped," he told AAP.

"As a way of augmenting that supply, we think there needs to be continued rebates and incentives to drive those purchases."

Mr Aman said providing rebates on the purchase of new electric cars would also help to reduce motorists' ongoing expenses.

"Electric vehicles are up to 70 per cent cheaper to run, which is crucial in a cost-of-living crisis and (to) reduce air pollution and cut our carbon emissions," he said.

The end of Queensland's scheme comes after Victoria scrapped its $3000 EV rebates almost a year earlier than planned, and after NSW and South Australia removed their $3000 subsidies.

Western Australian motorists can still access $3500 rebates on the purchase of electric cars under its Clean Energy Car Fund, and Tasmania has a limited number of $3000 rebates left.

Sales of electric vehicles have dipped in Australia during recent months, falling from seven per cent of all new vehicle purchases in July 2023 to 6.6 per cent during the same month this year, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.