At the panel discussion hosted this morning by NZME's Driven, Transport Minister Michael Wood reiterated the Government's goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public transport vehicles.
The first month of the "feebate" saw a huge spike in electric vehicle sales, which nearly quadrupled.
There were 1944 pure EV and hybrid light vehicle new registrations during July, according to new registration stats released by the Ministry of Transport - Te Manatū Waka.
That compares to 521 the previous month, and 483 in July last year.
The July 2021 figure breaks down to 760 pure electric vehicles, 431 PHEVs (plug-in hybrid electric vehicles) and 1163 hybrid vehicles sold for the month. The latter rather crimps the picture; a hybrid needs an external plug to qualify for the new subsidy.
The feebate scheme, which kicked in on July 1, sees the Government pay a subsidy of up to $8625 for a new EV and up to $5750 for a new PHEV for models costing less than $80,000. A used EV can be subsidised up to $3450 and a used PHEV up to $2300. (A companion programme, which will start next year, will see a penalty fee of up to $5175 for high-emission vehicles - see calculator below).
If you do claim a feebate. Check your sums. One of the first to take advantage of the scheme, MG HS PHEV buyer Steve Smith was due $5750 back on his purchase. Twenty days later, NZTA deposited just $5000 into his account. The $750 shortfall was eventually pinned on a clerical error.
A breakdown of July EV sales by brand is expected next week. But MoT data already reveals that electric vehicle sales are concentrated in Auckland - heavily, in total terms, but with the city also leading the ministry's sales-per-thousand charts.
Record sales overall
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford says the feebate boosted EV sales - but adds that the total market was buoyant.
Overall, despite chip shortages causing manufacturing and delivery delays for major car makers, New Zealand new car registrations were at a record level in July, and have been tracking at a record pace so far this year.
July 2021 saw 15,053 registrations of new cars, SUVs and utes, compared to 12,263 units for July 2020.
Year-to-date, the market is up 51.2 per cent (or 33,790 vehicles) compared to the first seven months of 2020.
An electric vehicle must have an external plug to qualify for the new feebate of up to $8625. Photo / Chris Keall
Registration of 9984 passenger and SUVs for July 2021 represented a 21.8 per cent (1784 units) improvement over July 2020, while commercial vehicle registrations of 5069 were up 24.8 per cent (1006 units) compared to July 2020.
The top three models for July 2021 were the Ford Ranger (1418 units), followed by the Toyota Hilux (809) with the Mitsubishi ASX in third place (737).
Toyota remained the overall market leader with 16 per cent market share (2434 units), followed by Mitsubishi with 13 per cent (1960 units) and Ford in third spot with 11 per cent market share (1728).
Mitsubishi was the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 14 per cent market share (1435 units) followed by Toyota also with 14 per cent (1357) and then Suzuki with 8 per cent market share (791).
The top-selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Mitsubishi ASX (737 units) followed by the Toyota RAV4 (553) and the Mitsubishi Outlander (365).
