Pickles revealed details of the trend on Friday in a report that showed electric car auction sales lifted in June and were expected to rise further in the coming year.
The findings come after the Australian Automotive Dealer Association reported EV sales jumped by more than 50 per cent in the first six months of 2026, bucking a downward trend affecting most other vehicle types.
The results also follow record-breaking new electric car sales in June, with the vehicles making up more than one in every five sold during the month.
The Pickles Quarterly Automotive Report, with figures from Datium Insights, showed motorists bought more than 50,000 electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles during June.
Electric car sales rose by 11 per cent during the month, while their average price peaked in May.
The figures proved the automotive market had changed and buyers were assessing a vehicle's entire cost before making a purchase, Pickles automotive general manager Chris Shaw said.
"Fuel efficiency and total cost of ownership are becoming much bigger considerations," he said.
"Buyers are taking more time to compare vehicles and are increasingly factoring ongoing running costs into their purchasing decisions."
The second-hand electric car market would get another boost in the next year, the report found, as the first wave of EVs purchased through novated leases reached the end of their contracts.
Their entry would boost choice for second-hand buyers who had been considering switching to a low-emissions vehicle, Pickles automotive solutions general manager Brendon Green said.
The auction sales figures mirrored trends in the wider used car market, with the Australian Automotive Dealer Association revealing motorists bought 54 per cent more second-hand electric vehicles in the first half of 2026, or more than 25,000 cars.
Only electric and plug-in hybrid electric car sales grew in popularity during the six months, it found, with used car sales down by 6.6 per cent overall.
Sales of used petrol vehicles fell by almost 10 per cent and diesel sales were down by four per cent during the period, association chief executive James Voortman said, making battery-powered models a stand-out.
"It's encouraging to see continued growth in used electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids as more Australians consider lower-emission vehicles in the second-hand market," he said.
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