Tesla destination charger at Coronet Peak, New Zealand. Image credit: Bridie Schmidt
Tesla Model 3 registrations have overtaken the Nissan Leaf in New Zealand for the first time in 2021, as regulatory action in the form of clean car standards start to have an impact on the local market.
The milestone is significant because New Zealand’s electric vehicle fleet has historically been fuelled by its fully open grey (parallel) import laws, which have enabled drivers there to import so many Leafs that Nissan even offers a warranty on imports.
But since the introduction of the Model 3 in 2019, and increasing support for new EVs in the form of a “Clean Car Discount” since July 2021,which gives drivers a generous maximum $8,625 rebate for new electric vehicles and up to $3,450 for used imports, the EV sales landscape has changed.
Instead of 2,506 first time registrations for Nissan Leafs and just 506 of the same for the Tesla Model 3 in 2020, 2021 saw 3,333 Model 3s registered for the first time against 2,662 Nissan Leafs.
Initial EV registrations by make, 2021. Source: nzta.govt.nz
Initial EV registrations by make, 2020. Source: nzta.govt.nz
It is another example of the impact that a national policy aimed at accelerating EV sales can do. With more than 37,000 EVs now in New Zealand’s auto fleet, 2021 also saw the first time an electric vehicle catapulted into national top 10 car sales (no surprises, the Model 3).
The introduction of EV rebates in New Zealand means that the standard range Model 3, which is priced at $NZ66,900 before on-roads, comes in at $NZ60,307 ($A56,411 converted) after the rebate and on-road costs are applied.
The impact of the rebate was so effective that in September, the Model 3 outsold the Toyota Hilux (also thanks to no doubt to an end of quarter ramp up by the EV maker, which wasn’t repeated to the same degree in the last quarter of 2021).
But perhaps more relevant is the Model 3’s performance against Toyota’s hybrid sales. In the second half of 2021, there were only 200 or so less Model 3s (2,581) sold than new hybrid Rav4s (2,814), and 500 more than new hybrid Corollas (1,064). On that note, stay tuned for Australian sales on Monday.
New Zealand is also looking at further action to cut transport emissions.
Unlike Australia, it has proposed vehicle emissions standards (dubbed the “Clean Car Standard”) that would see auto brands in New Zealand reduce average fleet emissions from 145 grams of CO2 per kilometre driven in 2023 to 63.3gm/km in 2027, or face big fines. In June 2021, the average fleet emissions were 173gm/km.
Similar aggressive cuts in transport emissions form part of the EU’s “Fit for 55” energy and climate package that would see a 37.5% reduction in 95/gm/km CO2 limits by 2027, and 55% reduction by 2030.
And it’s making the NZ car industry nervous. As Tom Pullar at Stuff reports, car importers are pleading with the government to pull back on its ambitious limits: Mazda product manager Tim Nalden was said to have called them “ “unrealistic with its assumptions”.
Unsurprisingly, Mazda only sold 45 of its quirky electric MX-30s in 2021, making it the third least successful seller of EVs, even though it was the third-largest seller of vehicles overall. Its 2021 average fleet emissions were 180gm/km.
Likewise, Ford also argued that New Zealand should be a “fast follower” rather than a leader. In its position as the fifth largest seller of vehicles in 2021, its mean fleet emissions were a whopping 230gm/km. It has no fully electric vehicles for sale in New Zealand.
New Zealand has wonderfully transparent data access on its ministry of transport website. The contrast to Australia’s auto sales data, which is managed state by state, and by the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries, to widely varying degrees of failure and success, is mind-boggling (as I’ve noted here).
While we have taken screenshots for the above 2020/2021 EV sales data, we’ve embedded the CO2 emissions by make for 2021 below. You can check this and the above data out yourself here.
Keyword: Tesla Model 3 overtakes Nissan Leaf in New Zealand, challenges Toyota