The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid ranges in price from $61,990 to $67,990.
The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid ranges in price from $61,990 to $67,990.
Electrified vehicles are a hot topic in New Zealand, thanks to rising fuel prices, increasing climate change awareness and the Government's focus on a Clean Car programme that impacts both consumers and the industry.
More buyers than ever want to move to electrified vehicles - but where do you start?
The publication includes need-to-know information on every hybrid electrified vehicle (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and battery electric vehicle (BEV) currently available in the new-car market, arranged from lowest to highest price so you can quickly find the vehicles that suit your budget.
An HEV, or simply "hybrid" if you like, blends a combustion engine with a small battery pack and electric motor.
It has the ability to drive on electric power alone, but usually only for very short distances - from a few hundred metres to a couple of kilometres. The rest of the time the battery/motor assists the combustion engine, reducing fuel consumption and/or boosting performance.
The Hyundai Tucson Hybrid ranges in price from $61,990 to $67,990.
Note that you don't plug in an HEV: this is "electrified" rather than "electric" technology, at least according to the Government, which says a vehicle must have the capability to be recharged from an external power source to be an EV.
An HEV battery is recharged by energy recovered from braking and deceleration, or sometimes even from the combustion engine when driving conditions are suitable. Also note that our guide doesn't include the vast number of "mild hybrid" (or MHEV) vehicles on the market, which have a similar ability to recover and store energy to reduce fuel consumption, but don't generally have the ability to drive on electric power alone.
MHEV tech is effective and will become standard across much of the automotive industry in the years to come, but we reckon there's an important line to be drawn between MHEV and hybrid/HEV models that have their own electric propulsion.
HEVs, along with MHEVs and other low-emissions vehicles, are eligible for the Government's Clean Car Discount as long as they cost less than $80,000 and do not exceed 146g/km. This Guide provides indicative Clean Car Discount rebates for HEV, PHEV and BEV models where appropriate/available, but bear in mind these are maximums and differ depending on the specific model and even available Government funding for the programme. All amounts are sourced from rightcar.govt. nz.
PHEV
A PHEV is a car or SUV (sport utility vehicle) that combines plug-in electric power with an internal combustion engine.
The battery is bigger than you'd find in an HEV, but smaller than a BEV/pure-electric car - typically designed for the daily commute after an overnight recharge. Electric range could be anywhere from 30 to 100km. When the rechargeable battery is depleted, the vehicle operates as an HEV, meaning you can simply use the combustion engine until you have the chance to plug in again and recharge the battery.
The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, with pricing starting from $60,990.
Something to look out for is charging capability. While the idea is that PHEVs are usually plugged in at home overnight using AC power, some are compatible with public DC charging stations, meaning they can be "filled" up to seven times faster than a home AC wallbox-type setup (or 20 times faster than plugging into a domestic socket!).
PHEVs costing less than $80,000 are eligible for a $5750 Clean Car Discount.
BEV
A BEV is a pure-electric car or SUV: One that doesn't burn fossil fuel at all and relies solely on its battery to operate.
So the onus is on the driver to keep it charged, because there's no alternative power source. Any new BEV sold under $80,000 also qualifies for the Government's maximum $8625 Clean Car Discount, which goes straight back to the buyer after purchase.
