EV numbers head towards 13,000

Electric vehicles are closing in on the 13,000 mark in New Zealand, latest Ministry of Transport figures show.

About 12,725 EVs and PHEVs were recorded to February 2019, up about 525 on January registrations, according to statistics released on March 5.

Used light pure electrics remain the most popular, with 7354 registered – up 354 on January’s 7071.

Next in line are new light pure electrics, coming in at 2152 – 80 more than the 2072 recorded in January.

That’s followed by new light plug-in hybrids with 2104 registered by the end of February 2019, 116 more than January’s 1988.

Used light plug-in hybrids were up 44 – 983 recorded in February compared with 939 in January.

Heavy EVs continue their slow rise, up two to 132.

In Australia, new electrics/PHEVs recorded 151 sales for the month of February compared with 1503 new hybrids – the latter the most popular there.

New Zealand’s end of year goal is 16,000 EVs – with just over 3000 more EVs to go to attain that.