Revealed: How Australia's cities rank for electric vehicle readiness
Shocking new data has painted a grim picture for Australia's electric vehicle future, revealing that our major cities are among the least EV-friendly in the entire world.
A comprehensive global analysis by Compare the Market, which assessed 106 cities, found that some of Australia's major cities consistently landed in the bottom 10 across five crucial factors for EV readiness, including incentives and charging station availability.
Each city was ranked based on the following factors: chargers per capita, national average electricity cost, incentives score, EV sales relative to the city's population, and the number of EVs per capita.
While some cities are better equipped for electric vehicles than others, it doesn't look good for Australia.
Canberra emerged as Australia's top performer, securing the 33rd spot globally with a score of 2.94 out of 10.
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Sydney placed 74th in the rankings. Picture: Daily Telegraph / Monique Harmer
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Hobart ranked 89th, trailing behind the Gold Coast, which secured the 88th position. Perth performed a little better, achieving 66th place in the rankings.
Brisbane also outperformed Hobart, landing in 85th position. And in a closely contested comparison, Melbourne was ranked 73rd, just ahead of Sydney, which came in at 74th.
The most EV-friendly cities in the world Ranking City Chargers per capita # of EVs by city population
INDEX SCORE 1
The Hague (Netherlands)
744.92
26,526.39
5.14 2
Rotterdam (Netherlands)
467.13
33,456.32
5.10 3
Amsterdam (Netherlands)
664.22
41,478.52
5.00 4
Paris (France)
8.97
142,820.30
4.86 5
Oslo (Norway)
120.00
78,956.70
4.71 6
Utrecht (Netherlands)
606.05
16,248.82
4.45 7
Montreal (Canada)
55.28
124,384.59
4.31 8
Trondheim (Norway)
77.47
20,030.36
3.95 9
Bergen (Norway)
52.43
29,075.80
3.94 10
Lisbon (Portugal)
163.76
10,448.34
3.86
While electric cars have gradually made their way into the Australian market, they haven't achieved mainstream appeal, and most states and territories have limited incentives for EV owners.
While Queensland and New South Wales have previously offered rebates and subsidies for EV purchases, they initiatives have since ended, with EV owners getting at least one incentive: discounts on car registration fees every year.
Canberra emerged as Australia's's best city when it comes to EV friendliness. Picture: Jonathan Ng
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Canberra stood out as an exception, receiving full marks for its comprehensive incentives, which included registration discounts, rebates on the purchase of an electric car, and grants for installing charging stations, helping it achieve a higher ranking than other Australian cities.
Another significant challenge affecting the adoption of electric vehicles in Australia is the national average electricity cost, which is notably higher than the global average.
In addition to this, Australians encounter further obstacles in embracing EV technology, such as range anxiety and high initial purchase costs, which are often associated with soft resale values.
Photo of roadside EV charging
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Dutch cities claimed the top three positions in the ranking: The Hague (5.14/10), Rotterdam (5.10), and Amsterdam (5.00). The report highlighted that these cities had the highest number of charging stations per capita, a key factor in the ranking system that allowed them to surpass other EV-friendly cities.
Originally published as Aussie cities ranked among the least friendly for EVs
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"The Commonwealth has in recent months begun playing a constructive role, by linking its funding of state roads with the provision of road safety crash data, however, it too needs to do more to publish and analyse the valuable information it is now collecting." Content originally sourced from: New figures showing Australia's road toll reached a 15-year high in the 12 months to June 2025 is more evidence that the National Road Safety Strategy has failed, according to the country's peak motoring body. The AAA's quarterly Benchmarking the Progress of the National Road Safety Strategy (2021-30) report shows that 1329 people have died on Australian roads in the year to June 30, and that no state or territory is on track to meet its target of halving fatalities by 2030. 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Source: Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics statistics The AAA's Benchmarking Report uses Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) figures to track the progress of Australian states and territories in meeting their respective targets for reducing road trauma. The organisation has long called on state and federal governments to publish the various road trauma data they collect, in order to "de-politicise road funding and to enable evidence-based safety interventions". In a press release this week, it commended the NSW Government for last weekend releasing the state's previously secret safety ratings of its road networks that have been assessed using the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP). The data showed 71 per cent of NSW roads were rated three out of five stars under AusRAP's road assessment scheme. This scheme rates roads based on analysis of risk factors such as average daily traffic, speed limit, number of lanes in each direction, lane width, shoulder width, presence or absence of roadside barriers and rumble strips, gradient and curvature, quality of line markings, skid resistance, whether the road is single or dual carriageway, and provisions for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. "This national leadership is to be congratulated, and it will save lives by improving transparency, accountability, and by ensuring road investment dollars get spent where they are most needed," said Mr Bradley. "All Australian states and territories use AusRAP to rate the safety of their networks, and the AAA calls on all jurisdictions to follow the lead of the NSW Government and publish all ratings. "The Commonwealth has in recent months begun playing a constructive role, by linking its funding of state roads with the provision of road safety crash data, however, it too needs to do more to publish and analyse the valuable information it is now collecting." Content originally sourced from: New figures showing Australia's road toll reached a 15-year high in the 12 months to June 2025 is more evidence that the National Road Safety Strategy has failed, according to the country's peak motoring body. The AAA's quarterly Benchmarking the Progress of the National Road Safety Strategy (2021-30) report shows that 1329 people have died on Australian roads in the year to June 30, and that no state or territory is on track to meet its target of halving fatalities by 2030. In fact, rather than reducing the road toll by 50 per cent, the strategy agreed to by all Australian governments in 2021 led to a 21.1 per cent increase in road fatalities over the following four years, with road deaths up 3.3 per cent in the year to June 2025, and at their highest level for any year-to-June period since 2010. CarExpert can save you thousands on a new car. Click here to get a great deal. "Our National Road Safety Strategy is clearly not working as planned and governments cannot expect to get better results by pursuing the same failed approach," said Michael Bradley, the managing director of the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), which represents the state-based motoring clubs and their 9.5 million members. At a time when many Australian states and territories are raking in record revenue from speed camera fines following routine increases in penalties, the AAA's most recent Benchmarking Report shows almost all states and territories posted an increase in road deaths in the past 12 months (except for South Australia and the Northern Territory). It shows there were 192 pedestrian deaths in the year to June – up 15 per cent from 167 in the 12 months to June 2024, when 38 cyclists died (up 11.8 per cent) and fatalities among motorcyclists fell by 5.4 per cent to 264. The Northern Territory had the highest rate of deaths per 100,000 residents, at 19.1, followed by Tasmania (8.3), Western Australia (6.1), Queensland (5.3), South Australia (4.4) NSW and Victoria (4.2) and the ACT (1.7). Source: Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics statistics The AAA's Benchmarking Report uses Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics (BITRE) figures to track the progress of Australian states and territories in meeting their respective targets for reducing road trauma. The organisation has long called on state and federal governments to publish the various road trauma data they collect, in order to "de-politicise road funding and to enable evidence-based safety interventions". In a press release this week, it commended the NSW Government for last weekend releasing the state's previously secret safety ratings of its road networks that have been assessed using the Australian Road Assessment Program (AusRAP). The data showed 71 per cent of NSW roads were rated three out of five stars under AusRAP's road assessment scheme. This scheme rates roads based on analysis of risk factors such as average daily traffic, speed limit, number of lanes in each direction, lane width, shoulder width, presence or absence of roadside barriers and rumble strips, gradient and curvature, quality of line markings, skid resistance, whether the road is single or dual carriageway, and provisions for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists. "This national leadership is to be congratulated, and it will save lives by improving transparency, accountability, and by ensuring road investment dollars get spent where they are most needed," said Mr Bradley. "All Australian states and territories use AusRAP to rate the safety of their networks, and the AAA calls on all jurisdictions to follow the lead of the NSW Government and publish all ratings. "The Commonwealth has in recent months begun playing a constructive role, by linking its funding of state roads with the provision of road safety crash data, however, it too needs to do more to publish and analyse the valuable information it is now collecting." Content originally sourced from:
