Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he hoped the number of electric vehicles registered in the ACT would continue to double, or even triple, every year, as he cut the ribbon on a new Tesla showroom in the city centre on Friday morning.
Mr Barr said he was delighted Tesla, the Texas-based electric car company headed by Elon Musk, had opened in Canberra.
"I've visited them in Sydney last year and strongly encouraged them to set up a showroom presence in the ACT, particularly off the back of our range of initiatives that are supporting a nation-leading uptake of EVs," Mr Barr said.
The Chief Minister said the ACT government's incentives to drive electric vehicle take-up in the territory would continue to focus on consumers, rather than financial encouragement for dealers to open showrooms in Canberra.
"More models, more diversity, improved quality, longer battery range: all of the technological trends are heading in a particular direction, and that is that EVs will become the predominant new vehicle type globally. Probably in the 2030s, they'll be more than half of all vehicle sales," he said at the showroom's opening.
The Tesla showroom - on the corner of Bunda Street and Tocumwal Lane - was fitted out in November, prompting enthusiasm from local owners and interested car buyers.
Mr Barr said he wished the company all the best in Canberra.
"With data that has been recently released, Tesla is the most popular electric vehicle on the market in Australia and in the ACT. And it's pleasing to see that [they have] realised what a fantastic opportunity that is in the ACT market," he said.
The number of electric cars registered in Canberra doubled in the space of a year, with more than 750 added to the territory's roads between January and December 2021.
Figures from the Electric Vehicle Council, released last month, showed the ACT led the nation in the uptake of electric vehicles, while the sale of the EVs tripled in 2021.
Canberra drivers purchased 825 electric vehicles last year, making up 5 per cent of all cars purchased in the ACT in 2021.
Nationally, 2 per cent of vehicles sold were electric, with Tesla miles in front as the most popular maker.
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The ACT government last year expanded its sustainable household scheme - which offers interest-free loans up to $15,000 for eligible products - to cover electric vehicles.
New and used electric vehicles are available under the scheme.
Applicants are able to apply for loans between $2000 and $15,000 to meet the cost of an electric vehicle, which must have a total cost below the luxury car tax threshold. The threshold in 2021-22 is $79,659.
The government in December said 2000 households had already made about $20 million in loan applications for sustainable household upgrades under the loan scheme.
Meanwhile, the government believes it will need more than 500 publicly accessible electric vehicle charging stations to support the take up of the vehicles before the end of the decade.
