Spike in the number of Kiwis looking to buy an electric vehicle - Trade Me

Thursday, 17 June 2021

Interest in secondhand electric vehicles jumped after the Government rebate scheme announcement on Sunday, Trade Me says.

From July, drivers will be helped into electric cars by a Government scheme to make them more affordable.

A brand-new fully electric vehicle will earn a maximum rebate of $8625, while a used one could receive up to $3450. Plug-in hybrids are eligible for smaller rebates.

Head of Trade Me Motors Jeremy Wade said there had been a “staggering” increase in the number of people considering an electric vehicle after the announcement.

Head of Trade Me Motors Jeremy Wade says New Zealanders responded to the Government rebate announcement by looking for an electric vehicle.

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“Views on electric vehicle listings on-site saw a 264 per cent increase on the day of the announcement when compared with the day before, while views on hybrid vehicles were up by 67 per cent,” Wade said.

There was also a 290 per cent jump in the number of electric vehicles on people’s watchlists, and an 82 per cent increase in watchlists for hybrids, he said.

There has been a 175 per cent increase in searches for Nissan Leafs on Trade Me since the Government announced its electric vehicle rebate scheme.

There have been 21,600 searches for electric vehicles on Trade Me in the last seven days, according to Trade Me’s data.

This was up 454 per cent on the week prior.

“Searches for ‘hybrid’ were also up by 72 per cent in the past seven days when compared to the week prior making it the fourth most searched for item on Trade Me,” Wade said.

There was an 83 per cent increase in searches for Tesla electric vehicles, while the Nissan Leaf had a 175 per cent increase in searches.

The biggest spikes in searches for a secondhand electric vehicle was in the regions, Wade said.

“Interestingly, despite the up-tick in EV interest, we’re not seeing searches for petrol or diesel vehicles decrease,” Wade said.

There was a 3 per cent increase in searches for “ute” in the last seven days when compared with the week prior, according to the data.

“Following the announcement of the introduction of levies for diesel vehicles, we also saw a 24 per cent increase in searches for ‘diesel’ on-site, indicating some Kiwis are trying to get in before the legislation comes into effect.”