James Foster at EVDB NZ has done the numbers for electric vehicle (EV) sales in New Zealand for November, and it looks like Ford's hitting it off with buyers.
The Ford Mustang Mach-E range was the top selling battery EV (BEV) in October, with 143 registered that month. For November, the figures aren't looking that good, with 86 Mach-Es being registered, but that's enough to propel the electric Mustang to the top spot again.
Nissan, which did a one-eighty on bringing the Ariya to New Zealand and then another one so it's now here in three variants, with 63 and 87 kilowatt hour (kWh) batteries, 160 to 290 kW engines and in front-wheel and all-wheel drive models ranging from $59,990 to $89,990, saw 30 of said vehicles registered.
Kia did one better with the EV5 SUV. Looking at the specs for the EV5, all models have a fairly large 88.3 kWh battery, and estimated ranges from 555 to 470 km, depending on if you go for the front-wheel drive cars, or pick the more powerful all-wheel drive ones with dual motors.
Tesla is not having a good month, with just 15 Model Ys registered in November. That's down from 48 in October.
| Rank | Model | Units Sold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ford Mustang Mach-E | 86 |
| 2 | Polestar 2 | 63 |
| 3 | Volkswagen ID.5 | 54 |
| 4 | Volkswagen ID.4 | 48 |
| 5 | BYD Atto 3 | 44 |
| 6 | Hyundai IONIQ 5 | 35 |
| 7 | Kia EV5 | 31 |
| 8 | Nissan Ariya | 30 |
| 9 | MG 4 | 27 |
| 10 | Lexus RZ 450e | 25 |
| 11 | Kia EV6 | 23 |
| 12 | Hyundai IONIQ 6 | 19 |
| 13 | Kia EV9 | 15 |
| 14 | Tesla Model Y | 15 |
| 15 | Kia Niro | 14 |
Volkswagen was the top selling marque for November, with 102 vehicles in total.
Foster notes there are some chunky discounts to be had on EVs, with the standout one being Toyota's BZ4X, which we drove recently (and liked). The BZ4X now goes for $57,990 new, down from $72,990. Whether or not the discounted pricing currently on some EVs will remain next year remains to be seen. A quick look at Trade Me listings finds plenty of dealers slashing prices on all types of vehicles, suggesting times are tough across the board currently.
It was also interesting to get some further information on lithium iron phosphate (LiFePo4) batteries, which is what BYD, some Tesla models and Ford use. Compared to regular lithium-ion batteries, BYD, for example, says to charge the LiFePo4 energy storage to 100 per cent once a week. So not to the usual recommended 80 per cent to extend battery life. New research suggests to charge to 100 per cent once a month, and keep the top ups to 75 per cent in-between.
What about EV battery degradation which comment section opinion suggests is a massive concern, to the point that it's nigh impossible to drive the car out of the dealership lot without replacing the electricity storage? Well... this is going to be disappointing, but it does seem to be a non-issue. Unless there's a fault, an EV battery is unlikely to ever need replacing. That's it, you drive hundreds of thousands of kilometres on the original EV battery in the vast majority of cases, with minimal capacity degradation.
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