There was an outsized surge in new vehicles sold in August, caused in large part because supply chains are starting to catch up on standing orders.
10,940 new passenger cars were sold in August, the most for any August, and 2,557 were pure electric vehicles, a 23% share. In addition there were 627 PHEVs and 1,626 petrol hybrids sold. That means new energy vehicles grabbed a 44% share in August. This transition is now fully underway and happening much faster than many would have guessed.
The largest number of fully electric cars sold were Teslas, who delivered 1,326 vehicles in August. There were also 448 BYD Alto 3s sold in the month. these two took almost 70% of all the pure electric market.
Across all models, SUVs accounted for 74% of all passenger car sales.
The commercial market is much more subdued, in the shadow of the huge March burst. But the electrification of tradie utes is upcoming, and the electric version of the Ford Ranger is likely to energise this market sometime soon as well.
All up, there were 22,624 imported new or used cars sold in August, the most since pre-pandemic. In the year to August, that is 282,000 and a substantial reason we run a trade deficit. Essentially, we sell milk for cars.
The growth of new energy vehicles is the bold new trend. It will also be interesting to watch the value of used ICE cars as this trend develops.
New vehicles sold
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78 Comments
The media aren't even on the first page.
We are 6-7 billion overshot, drawing-down like there's no tomorrow, and lying to ourselves about it - media included.
Yes. those lower in consumption-rates have less distance to fall, but undershoot follows overshoot, as sure as night follows day. Few will be unaffected.
I did that around 15 years ago. Own water, electricity, protein, carbs, etc.
Not so much because I believed the world was going to end, but because I'd rather be insulated from reliance on externalities. Maybe time will show that to have been financially foolish, but I think of it as insurance in another form. Was nice during lockdowns anyway.
If I thought it was going to end, I'd think of better ways to make the most of the fleeting remainder than being an electrical Jehovah's Witness.
Just wait until the September figures get released. There's a huge order of Tesla Model Y cars coming in. One of them will be mine.
I ordered within a few hours of the order books being opened, and still got bumped to their 2nd shipment due to the flood of orders that were ahead of mine.
I was told there are 1,500 Model Ys coming on 6/9. I love mine. I think Tesla will hit 10,000 registered by the end of the year. Add Polestar, EV6 and BYD to the shipments and the rebate is going to be seriously depleted. I think something like $20m per month going out to middle class buyers.
I find it pays to know what you are taking about. There are 6,500 Telsa Model 3 owners and 2/3rds are on the FB Group page. Their profiles are absolutely normal NZ. To suggest they are in the top 10% is risible. Anyone with ability can earn enough to finance one. If it’s only the top 10% then what a massive waste by Labour to subsidise them.
Yep watch this breakdown for the USA market. Cars are cheaper over there than here and yet they will still be to expensive.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DElbVEZOljI
My comment was in regard to all new cars and not electric ones in particular. Both of my cars are over forty years old and I have never owned a new car. They are cheap to run with reduced registration fees and classic car insurance and they are now going up in value rather than down.
That's one way to look at it. Another is they are trading $150/tank of ongoing expenses (a tank a week and that's more than the finance cost of the tesla over 5 years) for a near zero ongoing cost of running an EV. Tyres and wiper blades are the only parts I expect to pay to change before the Teslas 5th birthday.
An electric ute would be amazing for us as we keep getting power cuts - here's an example
https://twitter.com/ChrisYangMD/status/1565437347403022343
Aye - that's it in a nutshell.
EVs are the right answer to the wrong question.
E-bikes make more sense - not carting a ton of metal to take you to the supermarket, and you and your groceries home.
Which puts the E-Rangers into perspective: they're dinosaurs before they even arrive.
And your driver’s car/man’s car/cool person’s car is a smelly, farty 4 banger that performs like a steam train compared to an EV.
Before that drivers cars were manual only, before that only losers wore seat belts, and before that real men hand-cranked the car and didn’t need effeminate starter motors…
Ah, the luddites refrain. Slightly true, for a weekend corner carving mission a decent manual box attached to a decent engine is more rewarding. But bugger the cost and hassle of keeping one running for the few chances at a road you can actually enjoy it on. Those cars will end up as trailer toys and occasional weekend drives once the owners experience a decent EV.
They don't *have* to be replaced every decade. Current warranties are 160,000km or so, or unlimited over seven years. Expected degradation is down to 80% for most cars over this time frame, that's 80% of the original range. Your car doesn't suddenly stop working once it hits 80% - the degradation isn't linear either, it'll be a bunch in year one and two and then it will flatten off in a big way. An 80% degraded car with a 400km range from new is still going to give you plenty of life as a commuter car in seven or eight years time.
Does anyone know of any studies done regarding what percentage of NZ's vehicle fleet could go full electric before we run into electrical supply constraints?
I don't have an ideological dog in the fight but it would be an interesting stat to keep an eye on over time if not enough new power generation comes on board to keep up with demand.
Many household supplies are limited to 64 amps. If you exceed that, the pole fuse trips and an electrician has to reconnect you. If you have the stove going, heaters on and maybe a drier, you might come close without an EV. A Tesla wall box can be set at any amperage but the fastest charge is at 32 amps. That’s why we charge after peak. We don’t want to trip the pole fuse.
I think my next car will be no car, im trying to work out if mevo will work for us. If I were to buy an EV does it make sense to install solar panels and a power wall to charge the vehicle? Agreed power supply must be worried about this but off grid charging seems to make sense. I'm thinking hydrogen is really the way to go, in the meantime we try to keep driving to a minimum, currently 8000km a year, so owning a car in the future seems a bit silly, thoughts?
My brother in Wellington doesn't have a car and uses mevo. Says it's a no brainer economically.
As for hydrogen sorry can see that being the future. To inefficient to produce and store. Unless maybe we have bulk surpluss of renewable electricity to use, storage still and issue though. My guess is it will have very bespoke applications but not cars.
Hydrogen is not the way to go; it's an energy-loss. It's the same as a battery; an energy vector, not a source. The energy used to make it, is better used as primary energy to do the job itself; hydrogen is a red herring.
Do some reading about Entropy, and EROEI. It's useful stuff to know.
:)
Think if them separately as investments.
EV - Lower running costs, higher up-front costs, potentially shorter lifespan.
Solar - About 10% return for many years if done properly, but the initial investment is never re-couped, so when you factor that in, it's a 4-5% return
Batteries - 2-3% return - really only for those wanting to go off-grid, paying a lot for electricity, or wanting to doomsday prep.
Chances are if you've got the EV at home enough to always charge it off solar during the day, you're probably not doing enough k's to make any overlap in investments pertinent.
For EV's and Solar, you also get to enjoy the smell of your own farts a little more, as you know you're doing some good for the planet :)
Your comments come with a codicil; all other things being equal.
But all other things are not equal, and are rapidly becoming more so. Money is just digits; just proxy. If things turn pear-shaped - as they must, having a solar panel or garden hose or whatever, is money in the bank. Having digits is? Nothing if the bank is gone, or the Government shuts accounts down or gives then a Cyprus- like haircut.
Then there are people who don't succumb to assumptions. Who work out the (already sunk) build energy in a well-maintained 40-year-old-car, work out the build and running maintenance (both are fossil-energy supported; renewable tech cannot built renewable tech; the energy margins are too narrow) demands of both, and decide that it is worth running the oldie until it can't. My 1992 Corolla is approaching 400k, but it isn't burning oil; I've maintained it meticulously.
That 'fumy old dungers' suggests someone who has never been under a bonnet and who believes in a GND?
How did my guess go?
:)
I can't afford a new vehicle anyway so I, like you, maintain my vehicle until it stops going or costs more than it's worth. I figure (without any science) that the most environmentally friendly thing to do is keep what I have than replace it for the sake of it.
If we are to truly minimize the climate change impacts then we have to stop consuming altogether not consume different stuff
Plenty of them are. We aren't rich by any means, but I bought one. No brainer to swap $160/tank fuel bill for $60/month electricity bill increase (if that). And there were no interesting ICE powered cars in the price I was willing to pay for one with its attendant mIntenance and running costs.
The well off are buying their second and third Teslas. Or Audi/Merc and Jag EVs
Just hope you never get hit by a careless driver in your 92 corolla (I've owned 3 of that year, love them, but...). My father-in-law spent a month in HDU after an ill driver coming the other way fell asleep and hit him head on in his, through the cheesegraters. Was very sad, only 7k away from hitting the 500k mark he was going to retire it at.
Going to own our 2005 XC90 till it dies, but it's also maintained. It's costing me almost 50c a km atm, but my daily loop is only 2x2.5km so that's not as burdensome as it sounds (school and kindy not quite close enough to walk, though I'm thinking the exercise might be good over summer). Whereas the cost on a newer vehicle comes with a large chunk of depreciation for negligible savings - even with the odd out-of-town trip during the school holidays, we just don't do enough kms to warrant the 'upgrade'.
:)
Yes, I was talking about the financial considerations I made in deciding not to upgrade - conveniently ignoring the practical question - do I need to use a car at all?
3 kids to drop off (45kg + bags). Dog. A decent portion above 10% average gradient. Streets so narrow only a single car can go at a time, or 4 lanes with heavy traffic. 30 mins to do it in (external constraints apply).
Whats more environmentally friendly? A couple of litres of gas or the increased calories required to fuel what would be very intense exercise (as pdk would say, its all about energy)?
I'd be doing very well if I could do it on a dry day. Trying on a wet day could well be suicidal.
Think I'll stick with the car.
Even a meticulously maintained ICE car will put out more emissions over 4 years than building (using fossil fuels) and running a new EV (on our renewable dominant grid).
So, if you still want/need to drive, you should get an EV and run that into the ground. Modern cooled LFP batteries are good for over 1 million km.
You need to factor in the emissions and energy used in manufacture the car in the first place. Realistically how long are these electric cars going to last ? No way they will last as long as your meticulously maintained ICE car. The power electronics alone is so prone to failure its not funny, this will not be a serviceable item and neither is the battery. Run the numbers again because the Electric cars will probably last half as long as ICE cars and then you have the recycling issues with EV as well.
Is any government department thought about keeping statistics on the electricty being consumed in this way? Given that we are going to need a lot more electricty in the future, it would seem to me that NZ has a problem of insufficient power generation. There is an over dependence on hydro here, given that rainfall is looking more erratic in these days of climate change. Fossil fuel generation may be out of favour but what is the alternative given that NZ is desperately hanging on to its opposition to nuclear powered generation, despite the changes made since the 1980's. The irony in 2022 of record imports of coal into NZ because we have insufficient alternatives is certainly not lost on me. Conclusion: While these levers are working in opposite directions I think I'll soldier on with my 20 year old petrol motor for a while longer.
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