By the start of December,only 10,229 rebates had been paid,and 931 applications were being processed,data from the Department of Customer Service shows.
The remaining almost 14,000 rebates remain available to be claimed by NSW residents purchasing eligible vehicles in the state before the end of the year,regardless of whether the vehicles have been delivered before January 1.
CEO of the EV Council,Behyad Jafari,said he was disappointed the rebate was ending.
“We weren’t a part of the decision to end the rebates,and we were surprised because it wasn’t something Labor campaigned on,” he said.
He said rebates and stamp duty exemptions had diversified the areas where people bought electric cars. Surveys conducted by the lobby group suggested electric vehicles – previously the domain of north shore and east – were increasingly being purchased by people in Sydney’s west.
“The suburbs and the areas where people are buying them has changed,” Jafari said. “When we do consumer surveys it used to be environmental concerns,but we’ve really seen that shift very markedly to cost of living.”