Electric vehicle sales plateau, but still up more than 200%

Following a manic month of registrations in March, registrations of pure electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles plateaued in relative terms last month. Nevertheless, both segments still have more wind in their sails than they have had in the past.

A total of 1005 battery electric vehicles were registered in April. This is down considerably on the 2422 registrations clocked in May, but it also marks a 227% year-on-year gain when compared to April 2025.

Plug-in hybrid registrations saw a similar story unfold. The segment shrank relative to March, down from 1439 to 857. But, the segment remains well up on the 196 PHEV registrations in the same month last year.

The title of best-selling BEV in April went to the recently launched Jaecoo J5, with 89 registrations. It led the Zeekr 7X (83 registrations), Tesla Model Y (72), Kia EV3 (71), and the Dongfeng Box (65). 

After accounting for three out of five of the most popular EVs in March, and after confirming it had sold out of cars in March, BYD did not crack the EV top five in April. This likely means more pre-sold stock is still en route to New Zealand.

In the PHEV segment, the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV returned to the top of the list with 121 registrations, heading the BYD Shark 6 (78), BYD Sealion 5 (74), Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross (65), and BYD Sealion 8 (63).

As previously reported, pure internal combustion engine vehicles and conventional hybrids still led the national top 10. The Ford Ranger (753), Toyota Hilux (607), and Toyota RAV4 (568) were the three top sellers in April. 

Of the national top 10 in April, three are only sold in New Zealand as pure internal combustion engine vehicles (Mitsubishi Triton, Toyota Hiace, and MItsubishi ASX).

Three are available with a mild hybrid or full hybrid powertrain (Toyota Hilux, Toyota Corolla Cross, and Kia Sportage), and four are available as a plug-in hybrid (Ford Ranger, Toyota RAV4, Mitsubishi Outlander, and GWM Haval H6).