‘The tipping point’: Middle East war triggers major EV surge
Friday, 5 June 2026
The Middle East war-induced fuel crisis has seen electric vehicle sales double in the first few months of the year.
A recent International Energy Agency (IEA) report showed the surge represented a major stabilisation for the industry following a significant drop in sales after the cancellation of the Clean Car Discount subsidy in 2023.
In March, the sale of plug-in hybrid, fully electric (EV) and hybrid vehicles, with 12,961 new vehicles registered according to the Ministry of Transport, surpassed those of combustion-engine vehicles in what has been called a tipping point.
Annual EV registrations slumped from 27,920 in 2023 down to 8218 in 2024, then settled on 9786 last year and bounced back to 6368 registered EVs between January and April this year.
“We don't think this is a sugar rush. We think this is a tipping point, because electric vehicles are now much more affordable with a longer range and infrastructure coming,” Nordeast Vehicle Distributors group regional manager Dane Fisher said.
In 2024, New Zealand had one of the lowest ratios of charging points per electric vehicle across the globe, as there were over 80 registered vehicles for each charger.
But that was about to change, after the Government announced a plan to double the number of public chargers, as ChargeNet and Meridian Energy were given interest free loans of $52.7 million to install 2574 new charge points, 1374 DC fast chargers and 1200 AC chargers.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop told RNZ half the chargers were for “Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, the Wellington region, Christchurch and Dunedin, with the other half throughout the regions.”
The installation of new infrastructure should bring down one of the major barriers to owning an EV, Fisher said, while upcoming super-hybrid technology would allow drivers to travel up to 500km on a single charge.
When the oil crisis began, Fisher said his Auckland-based business saw a 250% increase in inquiries, then it slowed down in April but sales stayed high.
“Before the oil prices [went up], we were selling 180 cars, and in April we did 250 but we took 150 further orders.”
Nordeast sells vehicles from the Hangzhou-based Geely Group, including Polestar, Zeekr and Lotus, which ranged between $40,000 to more than $200,000 for sports cars.
“We cover everything, we’ve got SUVs, we’ve got utes and we’ve got vans,” Fisher said.
Chinese BYD had recently overtaken Tesla as the world’s largest EV maker, The Guardian reported, with a large increase in sales in developing countries, including Ethiopia which banned importing diesel and petrol vehicles in 2024.
However, quite often EVs are bought second-hand and a Christchurch-based electrification enthusiast wants to make this easier in New Zealand.
Last week, Hamish Woodside created Electric Dreams, an online marketplace for selling second-hand EVs, which had about 2300 people showing interest in the past seven days.
He put to use his skills as an employee for an Australian software company and created a website to make the purchase of second-hand EVs smoother.
Woodside bought his EV a few years ago after his family “ran the numbers and the economics essentially just made sense”, he said.
The Christchurch man said he only had one minor issue with the inconsistent New Zealand infrastructure.
On the way to Twizel, he realised he had forgotten to charge his EV, which had a 260km range when fully loaded for a road trip, and he had to wait for his $18 electric fill in Fairlie as there was no charger available.
“The infrastructure is not quite there to support that worry-free driving.”
But the expensive fuel prices triggered by the choking of the Hormuz Strait were not stopping an undercurrent of change, Rewiring Aotearoa chief executive Mike Casey said.
“We’re talking about kitchen table or dinner table decisions rather than boardroom table decisions.”
Casey, who runs a fully electric cherry farm in Central Otago, said New Zealand could benefit from introducing a “salary sacrifice” scheme similar to one available in Australia for people wanting to buy new electric cars.
“We can get brand new basic electric cars onto the road… for under $200 a week, at least for people in New Zealand, for our essential workers, for our teachers, for our nurses, and that includes registration, insurance, maintenance, energy and the car itself.”
Since 2022, under the Australian electric car discount policy, eligible electric cars and associated car expenses were exempt from fringe benefits tax.
Meanwhile, this year’s Budget included changes to the way fringe benefit tax applied to New Zealand motor vehicles.
Starting from next April, electric vehicles will attract a 17% rate and hybrid vehicles a 19.6% rate, instead of the standard default rate of 22.8%.