Source: Radio New Zealand
Salespeople were finding they had to “slow people down” in some cases, a dealer says. (File photo)
Electric vehicle “fomo” (fear of missing out) has helped drive sales to their highest level in more than two years as the fuel crisis bites, an EV dealer says.
Waka Kotahi data shows monthly registrations of full battery EVs last month jumped nearly four-fold from recent levels, from an average of 800 a month in the last two years, to 3100.
Registrations of plug-in hybrid vehicles almost tripled, from a monthly average of 540 to nearly 1600 in March.
Tesla, Nissan, BYD and Dongfeng dominated the full EV category, accounting for 60 percent of new registrations.
The last time sales in either category were that high was just before the Clean Car Discount was axed at the start of 2024.
EV specialist dealership GVI had experienced a “frantic month”.
“Fomo is probably what we’ve seen,” owner Hayden Johnston said.
“It’s gone from, ‘I’ve been researching these models and I’d like to drive them, and what do you think of them?’ … to, ‘What EVs have you got? Ok, we’ll buy it.'”
The last week was especially busy, he said.
“Stock on the ground is just so limited. We’ve sold everything we had on the ground, we sold the boat [load] that arrived end of last week, and now we’re selling into stock that’s on its way, hasn’t even got to New Zealand yet.”
The complexities of shipping used EVs, which were considered a hazardous good, meant those cars would not even arrive in New Zealand until May or later, Johnston said.
“We’re limited to the carriers who will take used EVs, and at the moment there’s only one shipping company that will take them.”
Even then, it came down to the individual boat owner as to whether or not they would load used EVs.
“So, for example, our April sailing is a non-EV sailing.”
GVI had been specialising in electric vehicles for 12 years and had good sources of used EVs from Japan, but the sudden surge of interest meant other dealers were now also trying to source them, he said.
“Everyone else is playing in our sandpit, I guess, so that’s created a little bit of a problem.”
Salespeople were finding they had to “slow people down” in some cases, Johnston said.
“We don’t just let people drive out the gate in an EV, because we know from experience that an EV doesn’t work for everybody.”
However, he said many of the negative preconceptions about EVs were false.
“The biggest anti-EV propaganda lie out there is that the batteries will just die, or only last eight years.”
He had just traded in a 2013 Nissan Leaf that still had good range and would last another six or seven years, and newer cars had significantly better battery technology.
“Ten-year-old Teslas have still got a late-80s, 90 percent battery health.”
Even the replacement cost of a battery was similar to replacing the transmission of an internal combustion engine, he said.
“These vehicles will be part of our fleet for as long as any petrol and diesel vehicle.”
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand