EV Buyers Guide

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AutoTrader NZ
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Published 10 May 2020

Questions to ask your dealer

If you are trying to find an EV with the best driving range at the best price, the most important information you need to share with your dealer is what kind of driving you typically do.

An expensive 500km range EV might be nice to have, but you could save a lot of money by going for a cheaper, lower range EV if you only do 40 to 100km of driving each day.

A few things you could do to help inform yourself of your options are:

  • Make a list of the common trips you do and ask your dealer about EVs that would comfortably achieve those trips with about 20% to spare.
  • Track or calculate your petrol expenditure per week. This will help you to estimate your driving needs and it will help you compare your potential weekly fuel savings.
  • If you are concerned about battery degradation, a battery capacity estimate can be done on some vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf, Nissan e-NV200 and Mitsubishi Outlander, using apps like Leaf Spy Pro or EVBATMON.

While this information is not perfect, you could ask your dealer if this information is available.

Talk to your dealer about your home, public and at-work charging arrangements. If you can’t charge up at home, what other options do you have available and which car would be best suited to those options?

Ecotricity also provides a simple tool that could help you find the right type of EV for you.

If you want to explore more technical information, you can try using the EECA Business cost of ownership tool.

This tool will let you compare estimates of the total lifetime costs of owning different cars.

Buying new EVs

There are a range of retailers in NZ selling new electric and hybrid vehicles. Some of the popular brands are ToyotaNissanTeslaHyundaiKiaMitsubishiRenaultSubaruJaguar and BMW.

Buying a brand new, made for New Zealand EV usually means that you also get manufacturer support, a warranty for the vehicle and possibly a warranty for the battery.

All charging cables or charging stations sold or provided must be “NZ Compliant”. Compliance is declared by the supplier through the SDoC form.

Worksafe – Supplier Declaration of Conformity

If you don’t have very much experience with EVs, or are looking to buy your first EV, try discussing your needs with several experienced EV dealers to ensure you are buying the right car for you.

Imported vehicles from a registered dealership or importer

Most EVs on New Zealand’s roads are second-hand vehicles, these are mainly imported from the UK or Japan by registered importers.

Some EVs are not yet available as new cars in New Zealand, so buying a second-hand import will give you more EV options to choose from.

Manufacturers are not obliged to offer support or services for vehicles imported second-hand from their overseas branches/franchises.

There is a rapidly growing community of EV specialists in New Zealand that can offer support for EVs, and many dedicated EV dealers will offer after-sale support for their customers. AutoTrader.co.nz EV dealers include – GVI ElectricAutolinkCoventry CarsEV CityHamilton EVDrive EVOlgo Motors & Auto Court.

Imported EVs should come with a NZ-compliant charging cable, vehicle history and battery information.

Consumer Protection has some great resources on this topic: Consumer Protection – buying a car from a dealer.

Private sellers

As with any car, you can also buy directly from a private seller. Private sales are usually made on an “as is, where is” basis, which means the buyer takes all responsibility for any problems after purchase.

Buying privately may result in cheaper prices, but the seller is under no obligation to offer after-sales support and you will have little legal protection after the sale.

In some cases, after-sales support and advice for using, maintaining and operating an EV can make a lot of difference for inexperienced EV owners.

Consumer Protection provides resources on this topic: Consumer protection – buying a car privately

Battery size

Battery size is measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh). The more kWh a battery is rated for, the more energy it can store and the further the EV can drive on a single charge.

Currently, the battery is the most expensive part of making an EV, which means EVs with larger batteries tending to be more expensive.

Lower priced electric cars tend to utilise smaller batteries (around 24 to 30kWh for example) while higher-end cars have larger batteries (64 to 100kWh for example).

When buying an electric vehicle, you could also take note of any loss of battery capacity, as this will reduce the amount of energy the battery can hold and the range it can drive on one charge.

In Nissan Leafs this is referred to as the State of Health (SoH), in other cars it may be referred to as “actual capacity” or “available capacity”.

The “right-size” battery for you

Finding the car that suits you is important. Needing to charge a low-range EV multiple times per day may add unnecessary inconvenience, while a large-range EV that you only use for short trips may be unnecessarily expensive.

Here are a few things you can do if you’re not sure what battery size is right for you.

  • You could keep a log of the kilometres you drive over a typical day or week to use as a reference for the type of EV you need.
  • Considering how often you do long trips may help you decide if a smaller battery car would suit you, or if you need a car with a larger battery.
  • The cost of hiring a car for occasional holiday trips could be more than covered by the daily petrol savings that come with owning an EV.
  • If you have to do more than one extra charge each day, then a larger battery EV or a PHEV may better suit your needs.
  • Ecotricity provides a simple tool that could help you find the right type of EV for you.

Range at 80%

It’s normal to fill a petrol car up to 100% and then only return to the petrol station when you’re as close to 0%.

With an EV to maintain battery health, you may wish to consider the maximum range your EV will offer when it’s charged to 80%, because

  • It’s currently recommend that you keep your EV charged at no more than 80% and only charge it to 100% when necessary, for a long tip.
  • to maintain battery health, experts currently recommend that you don’t leave your EV charged at less than 20% for long periods of time.

Some DC fast chargers will limit your charging to between 80% and 95%.

Charge.net.nz – Support page

Battery health report

A data reader can be plugged in to the OBD (On-board diagnostics) port of some EVs to conduct a battery health check.

This check is a way of estimating the remaining accessible battery capacity (or how much degradation has occurred).

Apps like Leafspy (for Nissan Leafs) and EVBATMON (for Mitsubishi Outlander) can be used to conduct these checks.

OBD II devices are available online, but not all OBD II devices are compatible with electric vehicles.

Stahlcar is one NZ supplier of compatible OBD II devices.

Battery warranty

Most new EVs have battery warranties that guarantee the battery for a certain length of time (typically 5-8 years, sometimes longer) or distance (such as 100,000km).

Ask your dealer about their battery warranty policies and what they cover.

AutoTrader.co.nz EV dealers

North Island

GVI Electric

Autolink

Coventry Cars

Hamilton EV

Drive EV

South Island

EV City

Olgo Motors

Auto Court