EV fleet continues to rise

New Zealand’s EV fleet rose seven per cent in the month of March to 3,120 units, a new high for the country, according to the latest statistics from the Ministry of Transport. 634 vehicles in total were registered for the first quarter of 2017, a 15 per cent increase on the last quarter of 2016. A select few models dominate the EV fleet in New Zealand. The most popular vehicle by far in the first quarter was the used Nissan Leaf, with 299 registrations, or 47 per cent of the total EV market. Second was the Paxter, a light urban EV used by New Zealand Post deliveries, with 93 registrations for 14 per cent of the market. The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, which recently launched its next-generation model in New Zealand, came in third with 66 registrations. Used light pure electric vehicles continues to be the fastest-growing segment of the EV market. In the first quarter of this year, 1323 units were registered, 42 per cent of total sales and a 9.5 per cent increase on the fourth quarter of 2016. New pure EV registrations rose 3.4 per cent to 757 units. Used plug-in hybrid sales increased even faster, with registrations up 23 per cent to 114 units, and new plug-in sales rose five per cent to 856 units. Auckland forms the core of the EV fleet in New Zealand, with 1501 units registered in the supercity. Second was Christchurch, with 134 current registrations, followed by Wellington, with 67.