Death of the Remuera tractor? Suburbs with most EVs revealed
Drivers in a area synonymous with gas guzzlers are going green
The days of the Remuera tractor — the traditional four- wheel drive — may be coming to an end as data reveals the wealthy Auckland suburb is home to the most electric vehicles nationally.
As electric vehicle ( EV) ownership grows, the Weekend Herald has mapped data from the Ministry of Transport to show the geographic distribution of privately owned electric light passenger vehicles.
The suburban EV hotspots appear to be in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch — all urban areas which also have bigger populations.
In Remuera, the top suburb for ownership, there are almost 700 EVs, followed by Flat Bush ( 524), Rolleston in Christchurch ( 518), Henderson ( 506), Mt Eden ( 453), Epsom ( 359) and Titirangi ( 338).
The Ministry of Transport data used by the Herald includes more than 48,000 privately owned, purely electric vehicles. Hybrids are not included in the data, which is based on where a vehicle is registered with the ministry.
In 2016, National introduced a range of measures to encourage EV uptake and in 2021 Labour introduced the Clean Car Discount, a policy that provided rebates for purchases of low- or zero- emission vehicles.
However, with a new National- ActNZ First Government, the discount was repealed under urgency this week.
More than 100,000 rebates have been paid since the scheme started — including a $ 8625 subsidy to Christopher Luxon’s wife Amanda for the purchase of a Tesla.
Luxon was heckled by Labour MPs this week to repay the subsidy.
As electric vehicles become cheaper and more popular, electricit y providers need to know where they are so they can plan accordingly. Vector, the largest electricity and gas provider, has created its own map to track the location of EVs.
Vector chief executive Simon Mackenzie said EVs could add a lot of electrical load to different areas.
“By knowing where they are . . . we can match that against the load or the amount of energy being used in the suburb.
“Then we can make sure that we can put in place the necessary investments or systems to be able to ensure customers can still charge their vehicles.”
Vector had a “critical responsibility” to ensure any upgrades to the network to meet EV demand were equitable, Mackenzie said.
“It’s a massive i ssue. There are some suburbs where there are a lot of EVs and, if that needs to be upgraded, then people in that area, the costs should be worn by them, as opposed to people in other areas where there are virtually no [ EVs].”