Thousands of Teslas are piling up in what’s been described as an auto graveyard amid plummeting sales across Australia, with motoring experts now worried the honeymoon is over for electric vehicles.
Two thousand Teslas arrive at Port Melbourne every month but sales slumped a massive 44 per cent in April, and many of the vehicles have been pictured waiting to be moved on from the busy transport hub.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Thousands of Teslas are piling up at Melbourne port.
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US automotive giant Tesla has made multiple and significant price cuts to its fleet in a bid to compete with the growing Chinese EV market.
“All of a sudden we’ve got a huge backlog of Teslas that aren’t moving, they’ve just stopped moving,” Victorian Transport Association chief executive Peter Anderson said.
“Teslas usually come into the country pre-sold. These cars aren’t, they’re sitting here waiting for buyers.”
Tesla isn’t the only company suffering.
Sales of electric vehicles slumped 5 per cent in April after more than three years of double and triple-digit growth.
“People are starting to tighten their purse strings,” CarExpert founder Paul Maric said.
“They really want value out of a car. Electric vehicles comparatively are more expensive than internal combustion cars.”
Industry experts say the sector is struggling to advance beyond the “early adopter” phase.
Poor charging infrastructure and plummeting resale values have been blamed for creating uncertainty.
“People are just a little bit weary about those price fluctuations and what it means for them when it comes to resale time,” Maric said.
The sales slowdown could have major implications for the Victorian government’s zero-emissions vehicle target.
The government wants 50 per cent of all new cars sold by 2030 to be zero-emission vehicles, but that is currently sitting at about 7 per cent.
Tesla has acknowledged sales are down but says that while there might be an impression of a stock build-up, it’s business as usual for the company.