Plug-in hybrids set a record in October as NZ EV registrations rise 162%

New Zealanders registered 1791 new plug-in hybrids in October, the most in any month in NZTA data going back to 2019 and up 176.4% on the 648 of October last year.

New battery electric registrations rose 161.9% to 1540, from 588, though they were down on September’s quarter-end total of 2676. Battery electric vehicles took 12.5% of new passenger registrations and plug-in hybrids another 12.5%, against 4.7% and 4.8% a year earlier.

Year to date, battery electric registrations stand at 16,614, up 160.7% on the first 10 months of 2025, and plug-in hybrids at 12,655, up 121.6%.

Among new passenger vehicles, battery electric and plug-in hybrid registrations totalled 2958 in October, against 3265 petrol-only models, which fell 12%. Petrol hybrids remained the largest group on 4859, a 41.1% share, while diesel fell 43.4% to 623.

Battery electric vehicles account for 16.8% of new passenger registrations so far this year, up from 6.9% in the first 10 months of 2025.

Ora 5 tops the battery electric board

The GWM Ora 5 was the most-registered battery electric model in October on 112, ahead of the Kia EV3 on 98, BYD Atto 2 on 91 and MG 4 on 90. The BYD Atto 3 recorded 76 and the Tesla Model Y 74, with the Toyota bZ4X Touring on 71.

By brand, BYD led on 288, made up of 91 Atto 2s, 76 Atto 3s, 61 Sealion 7s and 46 Atto 1s. Kia followed on 133, with 98 EV3s and 23 EV5s, then MG on 129, including 90 MG 4s and 27 S6s.

Toyota registered 117, up from five a year earlier, with 71 bZ4X Touring wagons and 43 bZ4Xs. GWM’s 112 were all Ora 5s, and Geely registered 101, with 58 EX2s and 42 EX5s.

Tesla registered 97, 74 of them Model Ys, after 649 in September. It remains the leading battery electric brand for the year on 3350, ahead of BYD on 3179.

Zeekr registered 65, Jaecoo 61, all J5s, and Leapmotor 59. Dongfeng, GAC, XPeng, Farizon and Arcfox each registered between 28 and 49.

RAV4 and Shark 6 lead plug-in hybrids

The Toyota RAV4 was the most-registered plug-in hybrid for another month, on 439. The BYD Shark 6 followed on 197, then the BYD Atto 2 DM-i on 129, Geely Starray EM-i on 104 and GWM Haval H6 on 101.

The BYD Sealion 6 and Jaecoo J7 recorded 68 each, ahead of the Chery Tiggo 7 on 53, Chery Tiggo 9 on 52 and BYD Sealion 5 on 48. The Ford Ranger plug-in hybrid recorded 47 and the JAC T9 42.

By brand, BYD led plug-in hybrids on 497, ahead of Toyota on 439, GWM on 190, Chery on 148 and Geely on 104. Combining both powertrains, BYD registered 220 Atto 2s, 91 battery electric and 129 plug-in hybrid.

Commercial plug-in hybrids more than double

New commercial plug-in hybrid registrations rose 136.1% to 314 in October, a 9.6% share of the commercial market. Battery electric commercial registrations fell 31.4% to 59.

For the year to date, commercial plug-in hybrids are up 22.8% at 2233 and battery electric commercial vehicles up 6.4% at 780.

Used EVs reach their highest since March

Used import battery electric registrations rose to 398 in October, from 159 a year earlier and 305 in September, the highest monthly total since March’s 620.

The Nissan Leaf accounted for 262 of them, up from 110. Tesla registered 68 used imports, up from 19, made up of 34 Model Ys, 30 Model 3s and three Model Ss. BYD added 17, nine of them Atto 3s.

For the year to date, 3330 used battery electric vehicles have been registered, up 135.3% on the 1415 of the first 10 months of 2025.

Used plug-in hybrids rose to 100 from 64, led by the Mitsubishi Outlander on 52, with 10 each for the Toyota Prius and RAV4.

Registration figures are from NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) motor vehicle registration data, analysed by AutoTalk. They count vehicles registered in New Zealand for the first time in the month. “New” means vehicles never registered anywhere before; “used” means used imports registered here for the first time. NZTA sometimes corrects its records after a month closes, so figures may differ slightly from those published earlier. EVs are battery-electric vehicles. PHEVs are plug-in hybrids, including range-extender EVs. Hybrids that can’t be plugged in aren’t counted in either. Figures before 2021 are taken from NZTA’s register as it stands today, so they leave out vehicles since taken off the road.