“While traditional internal combustion vehicles are still the most popular choice overall, we are seeing a clear shift towards electric power among New Zealanders when selecting their next passenger car,” said Al Allen, international trade manager for StatsNZ.
EV sales in New Zealand have been surging, thanks in part to the clean car rebate, or “feebate” scheme as it is also known, which takes as much as $8625 off the price of a new clean vehicle.
Transport Minister Michael Wood acknowledged this success this morning when announcing a tweaking to the Clean Car Discount scheme that was first introduced in 2021.
More than 100,000 rebates have been granted under the scheme, which has helped drive a level of EV uptake not expected until 2027, Wood said.
“The scheme is successfully exceeding industry and Government projections, with 20 per cent of all new passenger car sales being electric in 2022. A substantial increase from 8 per cent in 2021,” he said.
The tweaks will include a hike to fees and a cut to rebates paid out under the scheme.
The scheme works by adding a fee onto the purchase of polluting cars to fund the purchase of “clean” cars, either low-emission conventional vehicles, hybrids, or full electric EVs.
China led electric vehicle imports to New Zealand in the 12 months to March, accounting for a 58 per cent share ($716m) of imports, StatsNZ said.
South Korea and the European Union were next highest with 16 per cent ($195m) and 13 per cent ($161m) respectively.
