Battery electric vehicles accounted for 57% of all new novated lease sales written by McMillan Shakespeare (MMS) in FY26, highlighting how quickly the powertrain mix is changing in the employee vehicle market. MMS also reported that new BEV sales rose 113% during the year, while total novated leases under management increased 13.5% to 90,000.
The result is significant because it shows BEVs have moved beyond early adoption within one of Australia’s largest novated leasing providers. Just a year earlier, BEVs represented 31% of new novated lease sales for MMS. In FY26, they became the majority choice among new novated customers.
Rob De Luca, CEO and Managing Director, MMS, said EV adoption was an important driver of the group’s novated leasing growth.
“Growth was further supported by accelerating EV adoption and certainty in the Government’s FBT exemption, with battery electric vehicles accounting for 57% of all new novated lease sales in FY26, up from 31% in FY25.”
That comment points to two factors shaping the market. The first is the continued influence of the Federal Government’s FBT exemption for eligible EVs, which has improved the financial case for many employees choosing a novated lease. The second is the growing range of electric vehicles now available to salary packaging customers, giving employers and drivers more practical options across different price points and vehicle segments.
The shift to BEVs also sat within a broader expansion in MMS’s novated business. Group novated lease sales increased 8.4% in FY26, and the company said July 2026 sales momentum remained positive, up 8%. That suggests EV growth is not occurring in isolation, but as part of continued strength in novated leasing more broadly.
MMS’s FY27 outlook indicates the company expects the trend to continue. It said there was now certainty on the EV FBT exemption and a shifting preference towards EVs in novated and fleet, which it sees as supportive for future business growth. At the same time, the company flagged that remarketing income in FY27 is expected to reflect elevated demand for EVs and softer demand for used ICE vehicles.
For fleet buyers and salary packaging decision-makers, the result is another sign that novated leasing is becoming an increasingly important channel for EV uptake. It also suggests the conversation is moving beyond simple demand generation. As more electric vehicles enter novated fleets, attention will increasingly turn to vehicle choice, charging support, employee education and the used vehicle market conditions that sit behind residual values.
MMS’s figures do not describe the entire Australian novated leasing market, but they do provide a useful indicator of where one major provider is seeing momentum. In that context, FY26 appears to have been a tipping point: at MMS, BEVs were no longer a niche option in novated leasing, but the dominant choice in new business.
