VW’s intriguing offer softens the blow of lost clean car rebate.
Chanelle McDonald knows this is the kind of thing car dealers have been known to say, but she has some really solid evidence backing her up: there has never been a better time to buy an electric vehicle (EV).
That’s because the new Government has decreed that the clean car rebate applying to new EVs will end on December 31, the same day Volkswagen will end its innovative electric trade-in promotion – which sees buyers receive $14,000 (including the clean car rebate) off the purchase price of a Volkswagen ID.4 or ID.5 if they bring in any old electrical item.
McDonald, General Manager for Volkswagen NZ, says the loss of the $7015 rebate will have an unmissable effect on EV sales nationally: “I think we, and right across the board of all EV sellers, will see a slowdown. The cost-of-living squeeze is still there and there is a lot of economic uncertainty – and the market as a whole is expecting things to be different.
“But the flip side of that is that it really has never been a better time to buy an EV.”
That’s particularly true of Volkswagen’s two electric SUVs, the ID.4 and ID.5, as the extra rebate offered by Volkswagen for the “Electric Trade-In” adds up to the persuasive $14,000 number along with the clean car rebate.
“We mean it,” she says. “We know what happened in the recent past when the Government shaved $1500 off the rebate in June 2023. It was a comparatively small change but it had a big effect – and the EV market in New Zealand is expecting similar ructions when the rebate is gone.”
On that note, however, McDonald and Volkswagen have had a lot of fun with their Electric Trade-In campaign – where buyers were encouraged to bring in old, disused or broken appliance to qualify for a further rebate.
“I really didn’t know what to expect when we launched the offer, I half expected a whole lot of old fridges or freezers,” she says, “but that hasn’t happened. People have brought in bread makers, modems, computer equipment and, in Wellington, someone traded in an old turntable that didn’t work.”
The offer encourages people out of old unused electric technology and into new electric technology. Volkswagen also made sure that they were being sustainable with the initiative. They partnered with Abilities Group, a recycling charity which involves people with disabilities, who strip down the goods and recycle them.
Volkswagen have also benefitted in recent weeks from the New Zealand Herald’s “Great NZ Road Trip” with editor-at-large (and avowed petrolhead) Shayne Currie at the wheel of a Volkswagen-sponsored ID.5 for a two-week road trip, gauging the mood of the nation and meeting every day and notable Kiwis making a difference to their communities and the wider world.
Currie’s normal mode of transport is a big V8 but, as his trip progressed, the Volkswagen, fully electric ID.5 vehicle got into his blood. He pushed the ID.5 – which has a range of about 530km – through its paces on challenging roads like Okau Rd and Dansey’s Pass in Central Otago and said of the ID.5: “I came to quickly love it.”
“In truth, the ID.5 made light work of river valleys, mountain ranges, and all manner of roading and weather conditions. It was comfortable and easy to drive.” He also praised the Volkswagen’s “amazing ability” to generate battery charge through the braking system.
On a leg from Taumaranui to Turangi, by the time he reached the climb to the Waituhi Lookout, the battery charge was down to 95km with Taupo still 80km away. “Pushing it, I thought,” he said. “But by nursing the car – coasting down the other side of the mountain and using the brakes frequently – I had the charge level well over 200km by the time I reached Turangi.”
In total, he covered 2500km in 12 days and the cost of his trip: $332.34, which Currie called “astounding”.
McDonald says EVs have become hugely popular in a short time. “People are attracted by the low running costs and they want to do their bit for the environment as well. They also like the absolute quiet these cars produce.
“As for Volkswagen, we find a lot of our customers are existing customers, people who have grown to love and trust the brand but who want to move into the EV age for all those reasons and more. If it wasn’t for the end of the rebate, we’d be planning for a huge spike in EV sales at Volkswagen in 2024.”
Sales had effectively doubled from August-September to October-November and with plenty of vehicles now in dealerships, Volkswagen are expecting further growth this month.
“I’m pretty sure we will see a steady stream of people making the most of our trade in offer this month. ,” she says. “I know when the idea of the campaign was rolled out to us, my thoughts immediately went to my old hair dryer lying in a bathroom cupboard – and everyone else in that room was thinking similarly.
“So there’s never been a better time to buy a Volkswagen 100 per cent electric ID. and access the $7015 rebate before it’s gone.
For more information: www.volkswagen.co.nz/en