April was a much quieter month for electric vehicle sales: there were 1058 battery electric vehicles (BEVs) registered, compared with 2631 in March. Sales of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) fared a little better, reaching 565 compared with 514 the previous month.
In the current supply constrained market environment, that might be as much to do with which ships have come in and when than consumer trends. We might see more changes this month, as buyers adjust to the coming changes in the Clean Car Discount (which will reduce rebates on EVs and remove them from most non-plug-in hybrids), announced on May 12 and coming into effect on July 1.
It’s clear that one model did the heavy lifting for PHEVs and EVs in general in April: the Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross PHEV, which clocked up 284 registrations. Next was the BYD Atto 3 (184), followed by the Tesla Model Y. The only other single model to crack three figures was the MG ZS EV (112).
Overall, the new-vehicle market was up 4.6 per cent (10,177) on April 2022; however, Motor Industry Association chief executive Aimee Wiley notes that last year’s numbers were down due to the first month of Clean Car Discount fees for light commercial vehicles.
The top three models overall for April 2023 were the Ford Ranger (929), Toyota Hilux (653) and Toyota RAV4 (539).
TOP 10 EVS IN NZ YEAR-TO-DATE
BYD Atto 3 (BEV) 1176
Tesla Model Y (BEV) 1115
Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (PHEV) 856
MG ZS (BEV) 687
Kia EV6 (BEV) 420
Tesla Model 3 (BEV) 315
Kia Niro (BEV and PHEV) 299
Hyundai Kona (BEV) 225
Kia Sorento (PHEV) 254
Polestar 2 (BEV) 207