EV ownership is class dependent determined in part by the following factors:
- Income and wealth constraints on EV purchase
- Less Access to charging infrastructure by renters and working class
- Higher up-front costs compared to internal combustion engine ICE vehicles
- Higher average purchase prices
- While total cost of ownership can be better over time, the initial barriers — especially cash flow — make EVs disproportionately accessible to middle- and upper-income households for now.
Using mainstream economic techniques (diffusion analysis and the S curve) Tony Seba came up with the following propositions
- Technological breakthroughs have historically caused major political, economic, and social disruption — often very rapidly.
- Sometimes technological innovation slows change; for example, fracking greatly increased oil and coal-seam gas reserves, extending the time to predicted peak oil and gas.
- The IEA and other conservative analysts consistently underestimated the reduction in cost and rapid adoption of the EV by the middle class in advanced capitalist countries.
Since equitable electrification is not the goal of corporations it is left to government to correct this. Ford’s mass production of ICE cars in the 1930s was to maximize profit through scale of production not to produce equality in car ownership . Governments remain squarely in the camp of the fossil fuel industry. Political change remains unlikely.
To say that cheaper vehicles are coming out of China is simplistic. Australia lacks a vehicle manufacturing industry . The social divide between rich and poor in Australia is great.
- Australia has very high wealth inequality, especially tied to housing.
- Property ownership and asset inflation have widened gaps significantly.
- China also has high wealth inequality, but:
- Urban middle-class asset growth has been rapid.
- EV adoption is heavily concentrated in urban areas.“
One way to combat this is to have a highly organised working class with strong unions backed by socialist organization.
Australia has greater wealth inequality than European countries like Norway. Plus, Norway has an EV manufacturing industry that Australia lacks. Australia makes Bushmaster armoured vehicles for wars, not electric vehicles for sustainable transportation.
Conclusion
EV ownership is disproportionately concentrated among higher-income households.
Tradies operate as small businesses, not as wage labour. Many do not join a union, so lack class consciousness. So to claim tradies driving ICE vehicles are working class is not entirely true.
Younger tradies (some with ‘P’ plates) are heavily dependent on finance to buy an ICE ute, so they don’t really own the vehicle the finance company does.
As an aside, E-bikes and e-scooters are less class-dependent than electric cars. However, higher-end e-bikes can still cost $3,000–$8,000. The garages of some middle-class people are full of expensive bikes.
Ian Curr
24 February 2026
ICE = internal combustion engine.
True, but my point is that Australia has greater wealth inequality than countries like Norway. Plus Norway has an EV manufacturing industry that Australia lacks. Australia makes Bushmaster armoured vehicles for wars not electric vehicles for sustainable transportation.
This article overlooks one very important point – today’s new cars become tomorrow’s secondhand ones.
In 2020 Norway, an oil exporting country, embarked on an ambitious 5 year plan to have 100% new passenger cars and light vehicles to be electric by 2025. They did this by offering generous concessions and other incentives such as free parking. The result? 96-97% of vehicles in that category sold last year were EV’s. Now that’s a success story.