Petrol car registrations are on the decline in Lake Macquarie according to new data as electric and hybrid vehicles gain popularity.
The Hunter's most populated city is one of a growing number of areas where petrol vehicle registrations have decreased, according to data from Transport for NSW.
There were less petrol car registrations in Lake Macquarie in the 12 months to October 31, 2024 than there were in the previous year.
Petrol remains by far the most popular fuel type with 30,147 registrations from November 1, 2023 to October 31, 2024, making up 53.67 per cent of all vehicle registrations.
But this is down from 30,714 the previous year, when petrol cars made up 55.34 per cent of all vehicle registrations.
At the same time, registrations of hybrid vehicles have increased more than 70 per cent from 1014 to 1741, electric vehicle registrations increased by a third from 396 to 528 and plug in hybrid registrations almost doubled from 74 to 140.
Kahibah's Lisa Freeburn has been an electric vehicle owner since 2019, but upgraded to a newer model about three months ago. Her husband made the switch from petrol to electric last year.
"For us, it was a combination to stop burning fossil fuels and the cost of petrol going up," Ms Freeburn said.
"We have solar at home, so we just plug our cars in during the day when it's sunny so it's free to run our cars basically."
Ms Freeburn said it had become easier to own an electric vehicle since she first bought one due to affordability and increasing availability of chargers.
"When I had a patrol car, I was one of these people who never let the petrol go beneath a quarter tank," she said.
"So I was a bit like that with the EV. I had a bit of range anxiety, because my first car didn't go very far. I never once ran out of charge. There were a few times I had to drive slowly and turn off the air conditioning to get home.
"So it's great that we're seeing lots of new chargers coming in.
"I rely on home charging mostly, but my husband has used the chargers and is always checking the PlugShare app. When we travel we do use the chargers.
"The cost of EVs has definitely come down too.
"We are lucky because we are older so we've got more disposable income.
"I feel sorry for young people. My children will still probably have petrol cars when they learn to drive because they won't be able to afford them, but I've seen the prices certainly come down a lot within the last couple of years."
The trend in Lake Macquarie mirrors the data for NSW. There were 1,077,841 petrol vehicle registrations across the state in the 12 months to October 31, 2024, down from 1,079,961 the year before. Hybrid registrations have skyrocketed from 54,573 to 85,013, while electric vehicles have increased from 26,455 to 27,011.
Despite having less petrol vehicle registrations than Lake Macquarie, Newcastle had more hybrid registrations.
In the 12 months to October 31, 2024, 1815 hybrid electric cars were registered in Newcastle, which was a 40 per cent increase from the previous year.
Electric vehicles made up one per cent of all vehicle registrations in Newcastle in the 12 months to October 31, 2024. Petrol registrations have dropped from 60.95 per cent of all registrations in Newcastle to 58.88 per cent.
