sales are still going strong in – of doubling year-on-year – but how does our nation’s take up and incentives compare to across The Ditch? New Zealand is a well-known leader in renewable energy and as expected, Kiwis were keen early adopters of . Strong demand for in New Zealand was driven by a rebate scheme, more available models and cheaper pricing, leading to in 2022 and 2023, with EVs accounting for a whopping 27 per cent of new vehicle registrations last year. By comparison, about 8.
5 per cent of new vehicles sales in Australia in 2023 were electric and they account for 9.5 per cent of sales this year to date. While New Zealander EV drivers benefit from huge discounts on electricity between 9pm and 7am, Sydney MG EV owner Peter Callaghan told that Aussies needed to “hunt around” to find incentives and the cheapest way to power up their vehicles which varied between energy providers.
“I can charge my car now for 8 cents per kilowatt hour between midnight and 6am,” he said. “I've only been with AGL for a few weeks, but it costs $3.80 to charge my car from 30 per cent to 80 per cent.
“Now I just plug the car in before I go to bed, set 'scheduled charging', then wake up in the morning and it's charged 80 per cent.” While New Zealand has been leading the charge towards an electric future for some years, all this changed following the end of favourable rebates and the implementation of road taxes matching diesel rates, which saw EV registrations drop to about 8.5 per cent this year.
“This is largely a result of policy changes relating to EVs by the NZ government, following the election at the end of 2023,” Ross De Rango, head of energy and infrastructure at the Electric Vehicle Council, told . He said that as a result the EV situation in NZ is now similar to that of Australia. “So, as it stands today, it’s a pretty close call, after a history of NZ taking a strong lead,” De Rango added.
As of the end of June 2024, Australia had more than 180,000 EVs on the road, compared to New Zealand which has 75,700 fully electric light vehicles, plus 32,500 plug-in hybrids (PHEVs). Last year, New Zealand's National government announced plans to scrap the Clean Car Discount scheme which it likened to a "reverse Robin Hood", taxing hardworking Kiwis for the vehicles they need, to subsidise other drivers buying brand new EVs. In Australia, EV buyers enjoy exemptions from fringe benefit tax under the luxury car tax (LCT) of $89,332 – a higher threshold than petrol and diesel vehicles, while the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard and the removal of customs duty for EVs and PHEVs under the LCT was aimed at decreasing retail prices.
Each state and territory have their own incentives such as interest-free loans and subsidies. A full breakdown can be found . De Rango said there were a number of key differences between the Australian and New Zealand market.
“First, NZ has significantly less geography for the size of population,” he told . “It’s easier to adequately cover regional New Zealand roads with public fast charging locations, because there’s less road to cover. “The public charging network in New Zealand doesn’t have the kinds of gaps that we’re working to close in the Australian Outback – there’s no equivalent to the Birdsville Track in New Zealand.
" De Rango said governments in both countries had invested in a variety of programs to support and track EV uptake, while both Australia and New Zealand had experienced the “same sorts of growing pains” while moving from early adopters to the mainstream market. Many lucrative incentives for EV drivers have now been phased out in both countries, there still are some perks about. Here's how they compare.
Queenslanders with a household income under $180,000 who bought an EV under $68,000 (including GST) on or after April 21, 2023 are able to claim a $6,000 rebate. This is also available to those who bought an EV under $58,000 between March, 2022 and April, 2023. In ACT, there is no stamp duty on hybrids or EVs bought after July 1, 2023 and drivers can apply for a zero-interest loan for between $2,000 and $15,000.
WA is another state that still has a rebate scheme, with motorists able to claim back $3,500 on zero-emission vehicles under $70,000 bought between May, 2022 and May, 2025. The NZ government has pledged to invest $NZ257 million to deliver a network of 10,000 public EV chargers over the next six years, around 10 times as many as currently exist. Huge discounts on electricity for EV owners between certain off-peak time frames.
Large proportion of second-hand car imports, so lots of more affordable options..
