June EV registrations rise but July’s will be huge

June EV registrations were up 525 on the previous month, although EV dealers say July’s increase will be massive as EV rebates kicked in from July 1.

Many EV dealers say enquiries rocketed after transport minister Michael Wood announced the Clean Car Discount (feebate) package on June 13 – most buyers waiting until the July 1 start of the rebates to register their EVs (including plug-in hybrids or PHEVs).

Meanwhile, June EV registrations hit 27,949 compared with 27,424 in May.

The biggest jump was in new light pure electrics, according to the Ministry of Transport’s latest registration figures.

These went up by 342 from 6688 in May to 7030 in June, perhaps reflecting in some part a surge in Tesla Model 3 imports that month.

Used light pure electric registrations rose by 73 in comparison, going from 13,746 in May to 13,819 in June – possibly showing the registration delay to July.

New light plug-in hybrid (PHEV) registrations increased by 51, from 4191 in May to 4242 in June.

And used light PHEV registrations went up by 48, from 2555 in May to 2603 in June.

Heavy EVs increased by 11 – from 244 in May to 255 in June.

Interest in new EVs has also soared since the June 13 Clean Car package announcement.

In spite of having no EVs under the $80,000 threshold to qualify for a rebate, Audi New Zealand reports raised levels of enquiry and interest in its e-tron range.

Audi launched its range topping e-tron GT and all shipments to October are presold, Audi New Zealand general manager Dean Sheed says.

“Additionally, the same is true of the standard e-tron SUV and Sportback models.”

“These are strange times for the auto industry, however the government’s direction is right and the incentives will assist in driving enquiry and sales across the board.”

On the day of the announcement, traffic to the Hyundai New Zealand site was 179% higher than a typical Sunday with 70% of visitors being new to the brand, Hyundai NZ reports.

“In the weeks that have followed the announcement we have continued to see high interest in EVs with website traffic being 60% higher than the period directly before the announcement.”

Increased demand for new EVs is also driving demand for Hyundai’s used EVs, resulting in two to three-year-old Ioniq EVs and Kona EVs increasing in value.

Hyundai NZ has Kona EV and Ioniq Series II on the ground now with monthly deliveries expected. Limited numbers of its Ioniq 5 start arriving at the end of July, with more than 100 pre-orders registered.

For Renault, the June 13 announcement saw website traffic increase by 446% compared to a typical Sunday, with 86% of visitors new to the brand.

“Since the announcement, traffic to the site has been consistently high with 172% more visitors to the Renault site than the period directly before the announcement,” Renault says, adding its new Zoe will be arriving in dealerships in August.