Drivers look past petrol pain
Just as one man’s loss can be another’s windfall, sellers of electric vehicles and e-bikes are eyeing potential gains from the latest round of ‘‘record’’ petrol prices, especially if they’re sustained.
The surge has seen the cost of a litre of 95 octane top $3 in Auckland. Waikato prices quoted on the Gaspy app last Tuesday afternoon ranged from $2.58 to $2.93 a litre for 95 and $2.44 to $2.81 for 91.
Nick Down, managing director at Waikato’s only specialist electric vehicle (EV) dealer, believes the jump in prices will definitely drive demand for his wide range of second-hand stock.
‘‘As soon as there’s something in the news about petrol prices going up, our enquiries go through the roof,’’ he told Stuff.
His Frankton-based operation sold about 300 units last year and he expects that to climb to around 500 in 2022, providing the Government’s EV rebate scheme continues, following a review.
Key customers are ‘‘families wanting a second car’’, who will often use their EV for low-cost, day-to-day running around, and then swap to a petrol vehicle for longer trips and things like towing. Some are going completely electric and borrowing a petrol vehicle where needed.
Down believes he has the supply lines to meet increased demand and that the charging network is adequate for the level of EVs currently on our roads. He notes many people just plug in at home at night.
While EV penetration is currently about one per cent of the total vehicle fleet, he believes in ten years time that percentage could climb substantially. ‘‘The new models that are coming out, phenomenal.’’
Meanwhile, Michael Tritt, founder of the national Electrify NZ e-bikes network, which has a franchise in Victoria St, as well as a Waikato wholesale distribution centre, expects rising petrol prices to contribute to already accelerating demand for his product.
‘‘Rising petrol prices are just fuel on a fire,’’ Tritt told Stuff.
‘‘The cost of getting round is definitely increasing if you’re relying on petrol.’’
E-bikes were very costeffective, he said, with his personal 100 kilometres of cycling a week costing him about 20 cents in electricity.
It was common for upfront bike costs to be recouped within a year of purchase, Tritt said.
In 2015, New Zealand imported around 2000 e-bikes annually. Last year that figure jumped to around 50,000.
‘‘So that shows the astonishing growth,’’ Tritt said.
He expected new e-bike sales annually to track higher than new car registrations in the not too distant future. Growth would be a good thing if it prevented spending offshore on imported fuel and led to more local spending.
At a national level, the Motor Trades Association, which believes petrol prices are at record levels, said the difference in price between petrol cars and EVs would continue to act as a barrier to ownership of the latter. But the rise in fuel prices could have a small impact on EV sales and ‘‘who knows in the future if prices keep going up’’, energy and environment sector manager Ian Baggott told Stuff.
Even though the Government had a target of 40 per cent of vehicles being electric by 2030, EVs were still a tiny proportion of the national fleet and New Zealand was likely to be ‘‘at the back of the queue’’ when it came to supply.
However, Richard Briggs, manager of the transport programme at the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA), said petrol price increases would definitely drive demand for EVs, noting that the difference in the
cost of running his EV and his wife’s petrol car was increasing.
Briggs also noted extra demand was already strong for EVs, with around 38,000 on our roads as at the end of last month, a jump of 13,000 on the same time last year, and significantly more than the 5000 registered in 2020.
From a preventing pollution and congestion perspective, it was better to drive people on to buses or bikes. But, if that wasn’t practical, he agreed an EV was best from an environmental perspective.
Briggs said a key to helping people make the shift was confidence they can charge the vehicles when and where they want.
‘‘As the number of vehicles increases [we’ve] got to work with the sector to build the EV charging network.’’
EECA research indicates that last year 43 per cent of people said they would consider buying an EV or a plug in hybrid EV, up from 29 per cent five years ago.
Hamilton education provider Wintec announced Tuesday it had eight new EVs arriving this month and next, with EECA providing assistance on costs of chargers and their installation. Analysis showed the first four alone could generate savings of $9000 a year in fuel costs, a Wintec statement said.