Which region is charging ahead?

Thirty is the Government’s magic number.

That is the percentage of New Zealand’s national vehicle fleet that needs to be fully powered by electricity by 2035 if the country wants to meet its first emissions budget. However, in all but two regions, full battery electric vehicles (EVs) make up less than 1% of all vehicles registered, according to new data from Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.

Last week, the Government released its Emissions Reduction Plan – revealing how it aims to meet New Zealand’s first emissions budget of 72.4 million tonnes a year. Slashing transport emissions took a starring role and, with about 20% of emissions coming from the sector, there was a bigger focus on individuals and their transport habits.

The Government wants 30% of the light vehicle fleet – cars, vans and utes – to be fully electric by 2035, and wants people travelling 20% fewer kilometres in vehicles by then too, and instead be walking, cycling, or using public transport.

According to the transport agency’s data, of the more than 4.6 million vehicles registered in New Zealand as of April 30, some 35,970 were full EVs – 0.77%.

But not all regions were equal in their efforts to electrify. Wellington was leading the charge, with 1.22% (5351 of 438,145 total) of registered vehicles beings EVs.

Auckland was in second place at 1.02% (15,234 of 1,490,023 total), while Canterbury sat in third at 0.82% (5380 of 654,977 total).

Then came Nelson at a close 0.81%, Tasman at 0.79%, Otago at 0.78%, Northland at 0.55%, Waikato at 0.52%, Marlborough at 0.46%, Bay of Plenty at 0.45%, Hawke’s Bay at 0.40%, Taranaki at 0.37%, Manawatu¯ -Whanganui at 0.35%, and Gisborne at 0.22%.

At the bottom were Southland at 0.20% and the West Coast, at 0.12% – or 44 of its 36,292 registered vehicles being electric.

The Chatham Islands came last, with no EVs among its 362 light vehicles.

The data suggested the percentage of full EVs was rising year-on-year, with a big spike nationwide since last year.

For Wellington, the percentage of its fleet had increased five-fold since 2018, from 0.24% to 1.22% this year.

Auckland’s EV rate had increased from 0.26% to 1.02%, while Canterbury’s had increased from 0.16% to 0.82% – another sharp five-fold increase.

While the West Coast’s overall EV numbers remained low, the proportion of its fleet made up of EVs was 0.027% in 2018 – nine cars total, compared with the 44 now. Southland, on the other hand, had gone from 0.056% to 0.20% from 2018 to 2022, a more gradual three-fold increase.

Earlier this month Climate Change Minister James Shaw announced a new $579 million ‘‘cash for clunkers’’ scheme, that could see tens of thousands of lowincome families trading in older, less fuelefficient cars for cleaner alternatives – either an EV or a hybrid. More details on the scheme are to be released over the coming months.

The transport agency data showed the average age of New Zealand’s fleet was 14.5 years old. But some regions were trailing behind. Southland had the oldest fleet at 17.8 years, with the West Coast at 17.7 years.

Nelson and Tasman also had average fleet ages of more than 17 years.

Auckland had the youngest fleet at an average of 12.9 years, while the average Wellington car was 13.7 years old, and the average Canterbury car 16 years.

Transport Minister Michael Wood said the Government knew its goal of having 30% of the light vehicle fleet electric by 2035 was ambitious but it had worldleading policy in place to make it a reality.

New EV sales were increasing rapidly, he said, with the introduction of the Clean Car Discount last year tripling their sales.

‘‘For the first time, we are now seeing months where the top-selling passenger car of any fuel type produces no emissions.

‘‘Sales by market share of EV passenger cars have risen from 3% in 2020 to 20% in March [and] April this year. This puts us up there as global leaders on a percentage of market share basis.’’ This was expected to continue, Wood said.

‘‘There is a greater range and variety of EV vehicles coming into New Zealand, and this will continue to increase over time . . .

‘‘This will provide more choices for more people, which will help increase uptake, and people will become more familiar with the options available for them.’’ The ‘‘feebate’’ scheme had also created a ‘‘rapid increase’’ in hybrid sales.

When both plug-in and non-plug-in hybrids were included in the transport agency figures, EVs made up 5.21% of Auckland’s fleet, 4.90% of Wellington’s, and 3.03% of Canterbury’s.

‘‘While EVs are the cleanest form of

vehicle, hybrids also offer significant emissions savings.’’

While Wood did not comment on policies targeting low EV uptake in the regions, he said on top of the ‘‘cash-for-clunkers’’ scheme, the Government would trial a social leasing scheme to allow low-income families to borrow low-emission cars from community organisations.

The trial would operate from early next year in three communities to test its effectiveness. ‘‘This will provide a leg-up to those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to shift to a low-emission vehicle, helping them reduce their living costs and get ahead.’’

David Boot is the owner of EV City, an electric vehicle specialist dealership based in Christchurch.

It experienced a big rise in sales when the Government introduced its EV ‘‘feebate’’ policy in July last year, which subsidised EVs and plug-in hybrids by up to $8625.

‘‘The surge in uptake was about 20% [here] when that happened but then it probably doubled again when the fuel prices went up in March,’’ Boot said.

Christchurch satellite towns like Prebbleton saw increases of 30-40 cents a litre on petrol, he said, which had a big impact on day-to-day costs.

Boot said demand was highest for full EVs and they would typically only sell one hybrid for every 100 EVs sold. ‘‘We get a lot of people saying they don’t want a hybrid, because it is only a half-step in the right direction.’’

EV City had also seen about 30% of its vehicles sold to people outside the region. Boot said it made sense that the percentage of Canterbury’s fleet made up of EVs was rising faster than the other major centres.

A greater proportion of people in Christchurch had their own offstreet parking or garages than their Auckland or Wellington counterparts, he said. ‘‘They have the luxury of waking up with a full battery.

‘‘We recently sold a Tesla to a person in Wellington and they are planning to run an extension cord across the pavement.’’

Boot said they sold very few EVs outside the major centres.