EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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#3398126 29-Jul-2025 22:12

Fiat 500e is back on the market in NZ again.

I am very pleasantly suppressed by this, thought this was a model that was going to be gone from the NZ market for the foreseeable future, after fiat NZ cleared their stock at massive discounts late last year.

While not quite the pricing of late last year, it is not far away (only $3k more for the Scorpionissima), and given they have made the decision to bring this back to the NZ market, this pricing should be sustainable, unlike the massive EV firesale last year.

Last year discount prices:

Fiat 500e Pop $34,990 (was $59,990), no upcharge on non white paint options (was $750 - $2250)

Fiat 500e Icon $36,990 (was $64,990), no upcharge on non white paint options (was $750 - $2250)

ABARTH 500e $39,990 (was $74,990), no upcharge on non white paint options (was $750)

ABARTH 500e Scorpionissima $41,990 (was $76,990)

Spec seem largely the same as last year

deepred

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#3398893 31-Jul-2025 19:26

Scott3:

On the tech adoption curve, "The Chasm" is often depicted between the Eairly Market and Mainstream market.

We in NZ have yet to cross the Chasm. It is a challenging stage in adoption. The innovators & Early adaptors have largely already had their fill, but tech is not quite appealing to Pragmatists / Eairly majority yet.

And as I've previously mentioned, hybrids, conventional or plug-in, are a good stepping stone if an EV is out of one's budget. With my hybrid, I'm getting roughly 620-670 kms from a 35L tank.

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#3399553 3-Aug-2025 16:53

Guardian 5/7/2025: ‘The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it’: the terrifying truth about why Tesla’s cars keep crashing

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#3399695 3-Aug-2025 21:12

deepred:

Guardian 5/7/2025: ‘The vehicle suddenly accelerated with our baby in it’: the terrifying truth about why Tesla’s cars keep crashing

A tragedy indeed, but Tesla are hardly the only company to have sudden uncommanded acceleration issues. Nor the only one to try to hide it. You might remember the job of the unnamed protagonist of Fight Club, for example.

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#3399762 3-Aug-2025 22:16

deepred:

Scott3:

On the tech adoption curve, "The Chasm" is often depicted between the Eairly Market and Mainstream market.

We in NZ have yet to cross the Chasm. It is a challenging stage in adoption. The innovators & Early adaptors have largely already had their fill, but tech is not quite appealing to Pragmatists / Eairly majority yet.

And as I've previously mentioned, hybrids, conventional or plug-in, are a good stepping stone if an EV is out of one's budget. With my hybrid, I'm getting roughly 620-670 kms from a 35L tank.

My take is that one of the Greatest win's of EV's so far is making (non plug in hybrids) seem like the moderate option.

We you do retail sales training, one of the basic things taught is to suggest three options based on the customer needs, and be aware that the middle option will be get a disproportionate amount of choice, so if you want to steer somebody to a particular product make it the middle one.

EV's are great, but 25 - 30% of the new car market being non plug in hybrids hybrids (saving 40% petrol each) works out to be a lot greater saving than 5.5% of the market being BEV's saving 100% petrol.

Scott3

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#3399767 3-Aug-2025 22:30

Mini has been quietly upping it's EV game, now with three full EV models

Mini NZ currently has no models not available as a pure EV (although the convertible & 5 door versions of the Cooper are petrol only), and the Aceman is a BEV only model.

Cooper electric has introduced a larger battery on the top two (of three trims).

Countryman gets 22 kW ac charging as standard which is an unusual feature (I think it is only it and the Cadillac Lyric that get that as standard, from the current NZ new car lineup).

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#3400210 5-Aug-2025 19:36

Have just bought a fist EV. I wanted to jump in years ago but lots of negative people dissuaded my wife.

Was considering Nissan leaf, Hyundai ioniq, Niro EV.

Things seemed to have aligned with a local dealer offering big discount on a few MG4's they couldn't shift.

So although not looking at new cars, now have an Essence 64.

Only had it a few days, but really impressed with the smooth and responsive drive, and usability of controls coming from an older car with no tech.

My shed carport is detached with an undersized power supply cable, so likely setting up a 10amp plug in charger for slow charging. Looking at a oemaudio wall mountable and leaving factory charger in the boot. 🙂

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#3400253 6-Aug-2025 07:28

kotuku4:

Have just bought a fist EV. I wanted to jump in years ago but lots of negative people dissuaded my wife.

Was considering Nissan leaf, Hyundai ioniq, Niro EV.

Things seemed to have aligned with a local dealer offering big discount on a few MG4's they couldn't shift.

So although not looking at new cars, now have an Essence 64.

Only had it a few days, but really impressed with the smooth and responsive drive, and usability of controls coming from an older car with no tech.

My shed carport is detached with an undersized power supply cable, so likely setting up a 10amp plug in charger for slow charging. Looking at a oemaudio wall mountable and leaving factory charger in the boot. 🙂

How much did you get the MG4 Essence 64 for, if you don't mind me asking?

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#3400298 6-Aug-2025 11:17

Petrol Tax to go....?

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#3400302 6-Aug-2025 11:55

huckster:

Petrol Tax to go....?

This isn't new, its been a long signalled path by this government ( and even the previous one) to move from excise tax to a per Km RUC,

All that has happened is that cabinet have approved the general boundaries of the new system, which are

-Removing the requirement to carry or display RUC licences, allowing for digital records instead.
-Enabling the use of a broader range of electronic RUC devices, including those already built into many modern vehicles.
-Supporting flexible payment models such as post-pay and monthly billing.
-Separating NZTA’s roles as both RUC regulator and retailer to foster fairer competition.
-Allowing bundling of other road charges like tolls and time of used based pricing into a single, easy payment.

We still have no info on rates for light vehicles
(will there even be a new "light" class- or will all cars pay the "upto 3.5 tonne" as they do now)

Nor any pricing indication, or phase in timetable etc,

We're still years away

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/next-steps-replacing-petrol-tax-electronic-road-user-charges

DS248

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#3402732 15-Aug-2025 08:33

MG4 first affordable EV with a semi-solid-state battery.

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/mg4-makes-history-with-first-semi-solid-state-battery-in-a-mass-produced-ev/

Marginal upgrade on existing but a start.

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#3402737 15-Aug-2025 08:59

DS248:

MG4 first affordable EV with a semi-solid-state battery.

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/mg4-makes-history-with-first-semi-solid-state-battery-in-a-mass-produced-ev/

Marginal upgrade on existing but a start.

Pretty maddening that the top of range model costs NZ $24,700 in China but $59K here in NZ.

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#3402747 15-Aug-2025 09:25

DS248:

MG4 first affordable EV with a semi-solid-state battery.

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/mg4-makes-history-with-first-semi-solid-state-battery-in-a-mass-produced-ev/

Marginal upgrade on existing but a start.

What's the KWh and range?

MikeFly

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#3402753 15-Aug-2025 09:39

Try this, posted the wrong bit earlier sorry.

For now, the new MG4 is available in four trims: Comfort, Ease, Freedom, and Smart. Two battery pack options are available, 42.8 kWh and 53.9 kWh, providing CLTC ranges of 437 km (272 miles) and 530 km (330 miles), respectively.

Scott3

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#3402757 15-Aug-2025 09:50

DS248:

MG4 first affordable EV with a semi-solid-state battery.

https://www.drivencarguide.co.nz/news/mg4-makes-history-with-first-semi-solid-state-battery-in-a-mass-produced-ev/

Marginal upgrade on existing but a start.

Semi-solid state batteries seem to be miles away from actual solid state batteries when it comes to their capabilities.

Great that R&D teams are trying new things, but I don't think semi-solid state deserves the hype it seems to get.

SaltyNZ:

Pretty maddening that the top of range model costs NZ $24,700 in China but $59K here in NZ.

1. Note that there are two different MG4's, Different unrelated cars. In this case you are comparing a 54 kWh, 120 kW affordable city spec FWD vehicle, with a 77 kWh, 180 kW RWD car.

FWD "affordable city-spec" vehicle – with 43kWh and 54kWh batteries – to serve as the new entry point to the range":

2026 MG 4 confirmed for Australia as two-model electric hatchback range

Existing RWD / AWD (51 kWh, 64 kWh & 77 kWh):

2026 MG 4 confirmed for Australia as two-model electric hatchback range

No word for NZ, but for Aust, they are going to sell both versions concurrently (but drop the 51 & 77 kWh batteries from the RWD / AWD MG4 lineup):

https://www.drive.com.au/news/2026-mg-4-confirmed-for-australia-as-two-model-electric-hatchback-range/

2. Spec level often differs between the china and western offering. Safety is a key area where western markets often get higher spec. As an example, the BYD seagull, is sold in europe as The dolphin surf, Changes to improve the cars frontal collision performance, mean the car ends up 200mm longer than the china version.

3. China's car market is crazy competitive, often accepted that profit margins are tight (sometimes negative), as brands wrestle for market share. Not surprising that brands try for a little more margin in less competitive export market's.

4. All the costs of operating in NZ. Freighting the cars, GST, biosecurity requirements, costs of complying with the Consumer guarantees act, Cost of standing up a retail & service operation for a fairly low volume of sales in NZ (In this case they have used third parties. Eagers Automotive, so their costs & margin needs to be built into pricing).

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