Green tech cleaning up NZ fleet
Average CO of NZ2 new vehicles falls thanks to hybrids and electric vehicles
Asurge in sales of vehicles using some form of electrified powertrain has been reflected in a significant reduction in the average
CO 2 emissions of new vehicles sold in New Zealand last year.
The average greenhouse emissions of new vehicles sold in 2019 year fell to 174.4g/km, a drop of 2.6 per cent compared to 2018.
Just over 8700 new vehicles with some type of electrification (hybrid, plug-in hybrid or battery electric) were registered in New Zealand in 2019, up from fewer than 4000 registrations the previous year.
Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford says emissions have dropped from 220.7g/km when the MIA began recording the average emissions of new vehicles — as they enter the fleet — in 2006. Since 2006, average vehicle CO 2 emissions have fallen year-on-year by an accumulated total of 46.3g/km.
“There has been a significant increase in sales of vehicles with some form of electrification and this is starting to have a positive impact on our emissions,” Crawford said.
“This is certainly an accelerating trend. The rate of reduction in average emissions is heading in the right direction with the biggest drop in emissions coming last year compared to the last five years.
“As the range of brands and models of electric vehicles grows, they’re also becoming more affordable. More New Zealanders are seeing them as a viable purchase.”
The drop in emissions is also, in part, helped by the big volume of small efficient petrol vehicles on the market and increased efficiency of vehicles across a range of categories.
“New Zealand is a fast technology adopter and the popularity of electrified vehicles reflects that,” Crawford said.
“We are a tiny market on the global stage and have minimal ability to directly influence manufacturers, but these figures show that we are able to closely follow progressive regions such as Europe in reducing emissions from our light vehicle fleet.”
Total registrations of 8725 electrified vehicles included 5883 petrol-electric hybrids along with 1881 battery electric vehicles and 926 plugin hybrid units.
There was substantial year-onyear growth in all categories over the 2018 figures which were 2140 hybrids, 726 EVs and 703 PHEV registrations.
The 2019 registration total also included nine heavy electric vehicles, 24 range-extender electric models and a pair of NEXO fuel-cell electric cars being evaluated by Hyundai New Zealand.
Toyota dominated last year’s electrified vehicle market with 1950 RAV4 Hybrid sales and 1529 Corolla Hybrid sales along with its Camry and Prius models.
Hybrid drive also played a key role for the Lexus marque with 508 Hybrid registrations among the 887 registrations it achieved last year.
NZ’s most popular electric vehicles were the Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Kona electric while the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV continued its run as the most popular choice in the plugin category.
Toyota NZ is claiming a 9 per cent reduction in its average new vehicle CO 2 emissions compared to 2018.
Its booming hybrid sales represented 17 per cent of its passenger car volume last year.