NZ EVs hit 6000 registrations

New Zealand’s EV registrations have hit 6000, just in time for Christmas.

This time last year there were 2547 EVs registered, numbers increasing 136% in the year. This year’s 3485 total registrations comprised 2154 used electric (62% of 2017 registrations) followed by 649 new electric (19%), the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) reports in its Electric Vehicle News.

“Momentum is certainly picking up and we are part of an international trend. As Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported last week: ‘It took two decades to sell the first million EVs. The second million hit the road within 18 months’,” EECA says.

Auckland continues to lead the charge regionally, owning 50% of the light EV fleet, a total 2864 vehicles, well above Auckland’s share of the nation’s population (34%).

On a per capita basis, Auckland is clearly ahead of the Canterbury region fleet (696) and Wellington (679). EV numbers registered in Auckland increased 117% since December 2016 when the fleet size was 1319.

By type, 1123 or 39.2% of Auckland’s fleet are used light pure electrics, ahead of new light pure electric (955 or 33.3%). Pure electrics are more popular than light plug-in hybrids, which account for 27.4% of the fleet.

The size of the region’s light EV fleet has more than doubled annually since 2013, when there were just 63.