Rising petrol prices have sparked a surge of interest in electric vehicles for some New Zealand drivers.
EV dealers across the country say they have seen a sharp spike in inquiries over the past week, as motorists look for ways to shield themselves from volatile fuel costs linked to the conflict involving Iran.
At one Auckland dealership staff say interest has jumped dramatically almost overnight.
"Even this morning when I was checking with the boys, the volume of inquiry we've had overnight, I would say it's at least doubled what we normally experience," said Hayden Johnston, owner of Auckland EV dealership GVI Kiwi.
Johnston said buying an electric car is normally a slower process, often involving weeks of research and test drives. But global events appear to be speeding up those decisions.
"There's an education process, there's research, there's test drive, make sure it works for me, understand range, charging, how they'll use it, and that's sort of a six- to eight-week process,” he said.
"I think we've seen that compressed dramatically."
Industry figures say the trend is not limited to Auckland.
Ed Harvey, founder and chief executive of Christchurch-based EV charging company Evnex, said rising petrol prices tend to quickly influence consumer behaviour.
"It hits people in the pocket right where it hurts and people are pretty quick to respond to price changes," he said.
"So yeah, we've seen that in the dealerships."
Petrol prices pushing drivers to rethink
In Taupō, EV dealer Steve Greenwood said the phones have been ringing constantly since fuel prices began climbing.
He said similar patterns emerged during previous global crises, including the early stages of the war in Ukraine when petrol prices surged above $3 a litre.
"The morning of the day before where petrol hit $3 a litre, I think we'd sold six cars before 11 o'clock," Greenwood said.
"The phone was literally people waiting at 8 o'clock to jump on board and sort of ditch the pump."
Greenwood said many of the buyers already had electric vehicles on their radar.
"I think often what happens is these are people who've actually been thinking about it a long time,” he said.
"And this is the push that fires them to go, you know what, I'm done. It's time to go electric."
EVs remain a major purchase for many drivers, but dealers say the growing second-hand market is helping make them more accessible.
Used EVs can now sell for anywhere between about $15,000 and $50,000 depending on the model and battery range.
A market still recovering
The renewed interest follows a difficult period for the electric vehicle sector.
Sales slowed after the Government scrapped the Clean Car Discount in 2023, a scheme that offered rebates of up to about $8625 off the price of a new electric vehicle.
Harvey said the change had a noticeable effect on the market.
"New Zealand is very exposed, so our electric vehicle market share is down to about 5% now," he said.
"Back in the Clean Car Discount era it was getting up to about 10 or 15%, so yes we are very exposed."
While the number of EV models available in New Zealand has increased significantly in recent years, bringing vehicles into the country can still present logistical challenges.
Shipping used electric vehicles can be complicated because they are often classified as hazardous cargo.
"Shipping's a little bit hard with EVs," Harvey said.
"They are treated as a hazardous good. So for some reason new EVs are not treated as such, so they can basically be shipped on all lines all the time."
The Government is weighing up scrapping the clean car standard altogether.
Shielding drivers from 'price shocks'
Despite those challenges, Harvey said events like the current turmoil in global oil markets highlight one advantage of going electric.
"Everyone who has bought an electric vehicle in New Zealand will be enjoying that isolation from these price shocks at the moment," he said.
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