Queensland Police order Chinese-made MGs for hybrid fleet as China dominates EV market in Australia
In an Australian first, Chinese-made hybrid MGs will soon be part of one of the country’s largest police fleets, with experts claiming China will eventually take ownership of the country’s electric vehicle market.
The Queensland Police Service (QPS) aims to have a complete hybrid saloon and SUV fleet by 2025.
To help achieve its goal of 100 percent hybrid, the state police ordered 45 MG HS Plus EV plug-in hybrid SUVs in March to join its fleet.
The vehicles will be decorated with First Nations artwork, with three cars given to each of the state’s 15 police districts.
In an Australian first, China-made MG HS SUVs (pictured) will be used as flagged police cars
Queensland Police ordered 45 MG HS plug-in hybrid SUVs in March to join its fleet. It’s because the state’s police force plans to be 100 percent hybrid by 2025
The hybrid cars have been independently tested and assessed by QPS to assess their suitability for police duties.
QPS has yet to own the vehicles and no photos of the MGs are available yet AutoExpert.
In New South Wales MGs are used as speed cameras, but not as marked police cars in the state.
The MGs will join more conventional hybrid vehicles as part of the Queensland police fleet, including Toyota Camry, RAV4 and Kluger models, along with Mitsubishi Outlanders and Kias.
Police have confirmed that more than two-thirds of the sedan and SUV fleet are electrified and on track to have a fleet of hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles within the next two years.
QPS has not set a deadline for introducing hybrid vehicles, nor has it set fleet targets as part of its “hybrid first” policy, but told CarExpert it was looking for a “future of all-electric vehicles in the coming years.”
Experts argue that the Australian EV market is dominated by Chinese-made vehicles, with China set to own the market by the end of the decade.
Sam Evans, founder of EV news channel The Electric Viking, explained that most hybrid cars sold in Australia are made in China.
Sam Evans (pictured), founder of EV news channel The Electric Viking, explained that most hybrid cars sold in Australia are Chinese-made and predicted that the country’s EV market will become proprietary by the end of the decade are from China.
In his video “Australia’s electric car market share rises by 158 percent,” shared on YouTube Monday, Evans pointed to the proximity to China as the cause of the massive surge in EV purchases.
“The EV market in Australia is likely to move faster than many other countries because we are close to China,” said Evans.
He explained that China is about to “dump” its EVs to Australia because the country was not making money after nearly 2,000 car dealers went bankrupt last year.
“I mean no one is making money in China right now… The Chinese market is just going to hell and they’re all saying ‘what are we doing, what are we doing to sell them in Australia, we can make a profit “. They can and they will come.”
Evans said Australia’s market share is currently dominated by EV brands, including Tesla MG, Polestar, Volvo and BMW, made in China.
“The kings of market share in Australia, well, they’re all from China, including Tesla,” said Evans.
“Virtually all of the EVs that dominate the market share in Australia come from China. MG, Polestar, Volvo, yes, Tesla and even some other brands.
‘Soon we will have Aura with the good cat. Soon we will have the MG4 and a range of other EVS you may not know about.
‘There’s a lot more. China will own the Australian car market by the end of the decade. Toyota bye-bye, that’s what I think.’
Data released by CarExpert in January shows that the top five most popular electric vehicles sold in Australia last year were all made in China.
Data released by CarExpert in January shows the top five most popular electric vehicles sold in Australia in 2022 were made in China (pictured)
Electric car sales will almost double by 2022 with 33,410 electric cars sold in that year – representing about 3 percent of the new vehicle market.
Tesla’s Model 3 and Model Y topped the chart with 10,877 and 8,717 sales respectively – with the Model 3 breaking Toyota Camry’s decades-long run as Australia’s top-selling mid-sized sedan.
BYD Atto 3 took third place with 2,113 sales despite only being available in November and December.
In fourth place was the Polestar 2 with 1,554 sales in its first full year, while the MG ZS rounded out the top five with 1,119 sales.