Nelson Mayor Nick Smith buys his third EV: a BYD Atto 1 for a third of the real price
Nelson’s mayor has swapped from a 2010 i-MiEV to a BYD Atto 1 that cost less than half as much and goes four times as far.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith has bought his third electric car, and this one cost less than half of what he paid for his second.
The former National Party environment minister picked up a BYD Atto 1 this week from The Car Company, the BYD dealer for the top of the South Island. It wears his mayoral title and the Nelson City coat of arms on the doors.
In a Facebook post announcing the purchase, Smith used his own EV history to show how far the technology has come.
Three EVs, 16 years
His first was a 2008 Hyundai Getz converted to electric, with a 40kW motor, a 16kWh lithium iron phosphate battery and a range of about 80km.
The second was a 2010 Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which Smith says was one of 40 imported by Meridian. It has a 47kW motor and a 16kWh battery. After 85,000km, its range is now down to about 70km.
Smith paid $84,000 for the i-MiEV, which he says is the equivalent of $128,000 today. The Atto 1 cost him $36,000.
That makes the new car less than a third of the real cost of the old one, with nearly three times the battery capacity and more than four times the range of the ageing i-MiEV.
He also tracked the 0-100km/h times. The Getz took 20 seconds, the i-MiEV 15 seconds and the Atto 1 takes 9.15 seconds.
The car
The figures line up with the top-spec Atto 1 Premium. It has a 43kWh BYD Blade battery, a 115kW front motor and a WLTP-rated range of 310km. Smith quoted 320km.
The Premium lists at $35,990. Smith’s Arctic Blue paint is a $990 option, which accounts for his $36,000 figure. The entry-level Atto 1 Essential costs $29,990 and has a 30kWh battery and 220km of range.
The Atto 1 has been one of the main reasons BYD passed 1000 monthly registrations in NZ for the first time. A second-generation version is already on the way in China.
A local emissions case
Smith says transport makes up more than 60 per cent of Nelson’s emissions, and that cheaper EVs like the Atto 1 are a game changer for the environment.
He thanked Shane “Drummy” Drummond and the team at The Car Company. Drummond is the dealership’s managing director.
Nelson has a record of early EV adoption. The city launched an electric bus service in 2024, and Port Nelson commissioned NZ’s first electric mobile harbour crane last year.
Join the conversation