Electric car owners should be exempt from paying thousands of dollars in stamp duty and given the right to drive in transit lanes, the NSW Greens have said following Tesla's first release of an electric car for the masses.

As other world cities offer financial incentives to encourage electric car use, NSW is falling behind and losing the opportunity to reduce air and noise pollution on roads, Greens transport spokeswoman Mehreen Faruqi says.

The Californian electric car company unveiled its first model aimed at the masses, the Tesla 3, on Friday. Business analysts have called it Tesla's "iPhone moment" after customers queued overnight to order 200,000 cars in the first day, despite the car not shipping until next year. The iconic Detroit car manufacturer Chevy is due to release an affordable electric car next year.

But as countries including Britain, China, France and Spain offer government subsidies worth thousands of dollars for electric car purchases, and in London electric cars are exempt from the congestion charge, the only incentive in NSW is $30 off a registration fee rise.