Electric vehicle (EV) sales tripled in Australia during 2019, while petrol and diesel cars declined in popularity.

That’s according to the annual report from Australia‘s national body Electric Vehicle Council, which suggests last year the country saw EV sales soar from 2,216 to 6,718, with the demand for new diesel and petrol cars falling by 7.8%.

It also notes in the first half of 2020, 3,226 EVs were sold despite a 20% reduction in overall car sales.

A survey of 2,902 Australians shows consumers are starting to be more positive with the idea of owning an EV – of those surveyed, 56% would now consider purchasing an EV as their next vehicle, representing a steady increase from 48% in 2018 and 53% in 2019.

Consumers cite reduced environmental footprint, lower running and maintenance costs and increased relative performance as the most common reasons to encourage an EV purchase.

However, the price of EVs continues to be a discouraging factor for them.

In addition, some 68% of the public call on the Australian Government to support a wider roll out of public charging infrastructure and more than six-in-ten consumers also want government subsidies to reduce the cost of installing home charging equipment.