Sydney EV uptake concentrated in city’s east, north and inner city
Updated ,first published
A new latte line has emerged distinguishing Sydney; The data reveals that the areas with the highest rates of registered electric vehicles are concentrated primarily in the east, north and cities.
The city of Sydney has the highest proportion of electric vehicles relative to its total number of passenger vehicles: Transport for NSW’s April 2026 vehicle registration data shows 21.6 per cent of the 96,698 vehicles registered in the local government area are electric.
Behind this are Willoughby, Ku-ring-gai, North Sydney and Ryde, with rates ranging from 16 to 14 per cent, while the areas with the lowest registered EV rate are Wollondilly, Hawkesbury, Central Coast, Penrith, Fairfield and the Blue Mountains, with rates ranging from 5 to 7 per cent.
Sydney’s smallest LGA, Hunters Hill, has the fewest electric vehicles, but cars make up 12.2 per cent of the area’s 6012 passenger vehicles.
While the data shows that electric vehicles are most concentrated in the eastern and northern parts of the city, Western Sydney is not far behind.
Partly due to their large populations, Blacktown and Canterbury-Bankstown have the highest and third highest number of registered electric vehicles, with 24,972 and 20,461 vehicles respectively. Parramatta also stands out with 17,496 electric vehicles; the fifth highest figure among all local government areas.
The global increase in fuel prices since the start of the war in Iran has led to increased interest in the electric vehicle market. Sales increased by 50 percent in MarchAlmost one in seven cars sold in Australia in March was an electric vehicle, according to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries.
in sydney, Electric vehicle uptake was strongest in the northwestSuburbs such as Marsden Park, Kellyville and Baulkham Hills have recorded the highest number of EV purchases in 2025 through the federal government’s fringe benefits tax exemption.
But a combination of factors such as lack of chargers, high costs and range anxiety still cause some to hesitate before switching from gasoline to electricity.
“The up-front cost is one of the main barriers to whether people can afford it; it’s still quite high compared to petrol cars. Those who can afford it tend to be those from higher socioeconomic backgrounds,” said Rohan Best, professor of economics at Macquarie University.
EV charger deployment is also lagging in Australia, where there are 45 electric cars per charging point compared to a global average of 11.
A number of suburbs across Sydney have little or no access to public chargers; Electricity grid providers point to this as evidence of an inability to keep up with growing demand.
Prime Minister Chris Minns, himself an electric vehicle driver, has previously spoken out about the lack of access to chargers and said vehicles should be available to everyone, not just “snobs living in the eastern suburbs”.
“It should be available to regular mums and dads and that means they won’t have range anxiety and have access to a charger, especially if they’re traveling and driving for work,” he said.
To combat this, the NSW government this month announced it would roll out hundreds of new EV chargers in suburban Sydney and regional blackspots to plug gaps in the state’s charging infrastructure. Part of the $100 million in new funding will provide up to 1,000 new charging plugs and curbside chargers over the next few years.
But some in the industry argue that the rollout of curbside chargers has been slowed by electric network providers who own the grid’s poles and wires and are trying to expand the charging market.
Three years ago, Blacktown resident Mahmud Rahman decided it was time to retire his family’s Mazda CX-5 and was torn between buying the Toyota RAV4 petrol car or the $30,000 more expensive Tesla Model Y electric model.
After much consideration, he decided on an electric vehicle despite the higher up-front costs. He now saves up to $300 a month on gas costs.
“Even if the market price is higher, I thought about the benefits. [fringe benefit] It benefited from tax exemption and reduced my cost of ownership in the long run, so I preferred it,” Rahman said.
“We were early adopters, at the time society wasn’t that ready for electric vehicles; there was a lot of skepticism.”
Rahman said high fuel prices have increased interest among friends and family who want to switch to electric vehicles.
But Rahman said gaps in charging infrastructure would remain front-of-mind for Sydneysiders: “I think we need to increase the network in remote areas so people can feel confident they can travel to those places easily. If we want to travel for leisure, for example, and there’s no charging infrastructure then it’s hard for people to decide.” [to buy an EV].”
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Cindy Yin is an urban affairs reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email.
