EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

Forums › Transport (cars, bikes and boats) › EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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#3431849 7-Nov-2025 08:54

dafman:

Agree, I should have been more alert to that.

I’m warming to electric. My next car will likely have an electric component. Probably a plug in hybrid so I can use pure EV for day to day, but utilise petrol for long range trips.

The coming 2026 Rav 4 GR sport looks to be my perfect car, just worried what price they may attach to it.

They've just launched the Corolla Cross GR at $55k, so the RAV4 GR might be around the $60k ballpark which isn't too bad. When I ran the numbers recently I found that fuelling a hybrid is cheaper than public charging an EV even if you assume fleetwide RUC, so one of the GR hybrids (C-HR or Corolla Cross) would be top of my list if I needed a new car now.

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#3431896 7-Nov-2025 09:07

SaltyNZ:

Yeah this whole "I can't buy an EV until I can drive from Cape Reinga to the Bluff while towing my boat without any toilet breaks" thing is just complete rubbish. Just charge at one of the many cafes or service stations that you will 100% be stopping at anyway along the way ...

Complete rubbish right back at you (-;

I'd rather have total freedom to choose when I stop, where I stop, and how often.

What if the cafe I want to stop at doesn't have charging?
What if I want to take the scenic route on back roads and avoid the towns?
What if I want to drive with only short stops because of time constraints?

Sorry, I'm not going to drop tens of thousands on a car that constrains my choices on a long trip.

(That's why a plug in hybrid is increasingly appealing, pure EV for short daily trips, no distance constraints when on road trips).

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#3431897 7-Nov-2025 09:10

dafman:

SaltyNZ:

Yeah this whole "I can't buy an EV until I can drive from Cape Reinga to the Bluff while towing my boat without any toilet breaks" thing is just complete rubbish. Just charge at one of the many cafes or service stations that you will 100% be stopping at anyway along the way ...

Complete rubbish right back at you (-;

I'd rather have total freedom to choose when I stop, where I stop, and how often.

What if the cafe I want to stop at doesn't have charging?
What if I want to take the scenic route on back roads and avoid the towns?
What if I want to drive with only short stops because of time constraints?
Sorry, I'm not going to drop tens of thousands on a car that constrains my choices on a long trip.

(That's why a plug in hybrid is increasingly appealing, pure EV for short daily trips, no distance constraints when on road trips).

Well, I've driven Warkworth to Wellington multiple times and it already only takes the same amount of time as it would in a petrol vehicle, including taking backroads. So consider your freedoms free.

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#3431903 7-Nov-2025 09:31

Scott3:

Also interesting that (non plug in) hybrid is now the dominant powertrain for new vehicles in NZ, making up 39.2% of sales last month:

Not really, given that the main proponent of Hybrids is Toyota, Who has been the top selling brand, since like, ever...

Dairusire

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#3431929 7-Nov-2025 13:04

dafman:

SaltyNZ:

Yeah this whole "I can't buy an EV until I can drive from Cape Reinga to the Bluff while towing my boat without any toilet breaks" thing is just complete rubbish. Just charge at one of the many cafes or service stations that you will 100% be stopping at anyway along the way ...

Complete rubbish right back at you (-;

I'd rather have total freedom to choose when I stop, where I stop, and how often.

What if the cafe I want to stop at doesn't have charging?
What if I want to take the scenic route on back roads and avoid the towns?
What if I want to drive with only short stops because of time constraints?
Sorry, I'm not going to drop tens of thousands on a car that constrains my choices on a long trip.

(That's why a plug in hybrid is increasingly appealing, pure EV for short daily trips, no distance constraints when on road trips).

I respect the opinion but I will challenge it because who doesn't love a good ol discussion.

If you wish to take the scenic route on back roads and avoid the towns you'll run into the same issue with a full EV as you would face with a petrol car? The distance to 'refueling' (Electric or petrol) greatly increases, and realistically at some point or another you'll likely need to deviate.

Also, as far as placement of charging stations goes and same with petrol stations, they're typically centered around services or vice versa. So where you pick to refuel (I'm going to use this interchangeably for both) is a bit of a moot point, though at this stage there is 'more' choice for petrol as expected due to maturity of distribution points, than charging, there are quite a few exceptions to that rule though, for example SH5 from Taupo to Napier. There are no Fuel stations but there are two different chargers. This is a main throughfare and 118KM stretch of road between petrol station to petrol station.

***EDIT:
I'll add here, EV does offer the benefit if you're camping at powered sites (if allowed of course) that you can charge, or if you're staying with friends and give them some cash money for it (I'm not rude). Boom, overnight refill.

***

As for short stops because of time constraints, I'll concede there but also from my perspective 'eh'. At 400-450km (I'm taking a Tesla 3 with WLTP 500KM 'range' then 15-20% off the top) alone I'm probably wanting a break. Having a bathroom break, something to eat. Take that 15-30 minutes just to refresh. I really do sometimes feel as if people forget about the old 'just because you could, does not mean you should'. I get it, I wanna make my drive from Whanagaparaoa all the way to riversdale in one big hit, get it done and be where I wanna be. It is also a 9 hour 718KM drive. At some point or another without a bladder or sphincter of unobtanium, someone is going to do the needful.

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#3431945 7-Nov-2025 14:17

I have this debate with people as we only have 30kWh leafs so can't do that distance. We have small kids, they get bored. So either we stop for a top up and they can go to the toilet and go nuts in a playground for 15 minutes or if we had more range we would power through, one of them need the toilet in the middle of nowhere and end up with them engrossed in an iPad. I just prefer at this point that we take the time and stop to charge and let them enjoy the journey.

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#3432198 8-Nov-2025 15:16

wellygary:

Scott3:

Also interesting that (non plug in) hybrid is now the dominant powertrain for new vehicles in NZ, making up 39.2% of sales last month:

Not really, given that the main proponent of Hybrids is Toyota, Who has been the top selling brand, since like, ever...

Hybrids are the missing link between petrol/diesel and full electric.

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#3432203 8-Nov-2025 16:09

deepred:

wellygary:

Not really, given that the main proponent of Hybrids is Toyota, Who has been the top selling brand, since like, ever...

Hybrids are the missing link between petrol/diesel and full electric.

Hybrids served the purpose of giving their owners confidence to drive distances that BEVs weren't capable of on a single charge. As battery capacity/range has now reached the point at which driving between major cities is easily possible, public charging infrastructure is rolling out to further boost EV travel confidence and with EVs now reaching price parity with ICEVs the reasons to own a hybrid are becoming fewer and fewer. Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting.

They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

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RunningMan

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#3432205 8-Nov-2025 16:20

deepred:

Hybrids are the missing link between petrol/diesel and full electric.

Hardly a missing link, they've been around for a very long time.

dafman

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#3432215 8-Nov-2025 17:36

HarmLessSolutions:

Hybrids served the purpose of giving their owners confidence to drive distances that BEVs weren't capable of on a single charge. As battery capacity/range has now reached the point at which driving between major cities is easily possible, public charging infrastructure is rolling out to further boost EV travel confidence and with EVs now reaching price parity with ICEVs the reasons to own a hybrid are becoming fewer and fewer. Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting.

They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

A: How long does it take to charge a BEV at a public charger on arrival at major city after a long trip?

B: How long does it take to fill a petrol tank at a service station on arrival at a major city after a long trip?

Spoiler: Answer to B is less than 5 mins.

May be redundant technology for you, for me and the majority it still has plenty of legs.

gzt

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#3432219 8-Nov-2025 17:57

HarmLessSolutions: Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting. They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

You are anticipating rucs will be levied on hybrids before ICE?

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HarmLessSolutions

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#3432221 8-Nov-2025 17:59

dafman:

HarmLessSolutions:

Hybrids served the purpose of giving their owners confidence to drive distances that BEVs weren't capable of on a single charge. As battery capacity/range has now reached the point at which driving between major cities is easily possible, public charging infrastructure is rolling out to further boost EV travel confidence and with EVs now reaching price parity with ICEVs the reasons to own a hybrid are becoming fewer and fewer. Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting.

They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

A: How long does it take to charge a BEV at a public charger on arrival at major city after a long trip?

B: How long does it take to fill a petrol tank at a service station on arrival at a major city after a long trip?

Spoiler: Answer to B is less than 5 mins.

May be redundant technology for you, for me and the majority it still has plenty of legs.

A: Less time than it takes to enjoy a meal, which is a bit annoying when you have to vacate the charger between courses I guess. That is unless we've returned home in which case I just wait for our solar to charge the EV, or if I'm visiting friends when I plug in there while staying and then shout them a meal to recompense them.

I'm assuming you do realise that you don't have to hold the 'filler' at a public charger like you do while huffing petrol fumes for an ICE fill.

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#3432223 8-Nov-2025 18:06

gzt:
HarmLessSolutions: Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting. They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

You are anticipating rucs will be levied on hybrids before ICE?

It will happen for all ICEVs (including hybrids) in one move because fuel price will need to change at that time. The reduced RUC rate for PHEVs will also need to be increased to the rate for all others at that time for the same reason. Overall the RUC system will then put all vehicles' running costs on a level playing field.

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everettpsycho

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#3432224 8-Nov-2025 18:10

dafman:

HarmLessSolutions:

Hybrids served the purpose of giving their owners confidence to drive distances that BEVs weren't capable of on a single charge. As battery capacity/range has now reached the point at which driving between major cities is easily possible, public charging infrastructure is rolling out to further boost EV travel confidence and with EVs now reaching price parity with ICEVs the reasons to own a hybrid are becoming fewer and fewer. Add to that the economic hit that hybrids will suffer when RUCs are levied on them, probably next year, and their added maintenance needs over an EV, and their viability will be sorely tested with sales and resale values likely plummeting.

They will become a redundant technology well before other ICEVs will.

A: How long does it take to charge a BEV at a public charger on arrival at major city after a long trip?

B: How long does it take to fill a petrol tank at a service station on arrival at a major city after a long trip?

Spoiler: Answer to B is less than 5 mins.

May be redundant technology for you, for me and the majority it still has plenty of legs.

If your destination has on site charging or you are at home A takes about 5 seconds of effort. If you are popping in to the super market or stopping for food it also takes a couple of seconds to plug your car in then go in to the shop like you would have been doing in the petrol car anyway.

Yes the duration to charge is longer than the duration to fill but what people who haven't done it never consider is you don't just stand holding the charger like it's a petrol pump and the chargers are generally in car parks you would stop in anyway. You generally stop somewhere for the toilet, coffee, shopping or whatever, plug in, go about your business and come back to unplug. I spend significantly less time filling up the car daily due to charging at home, but on a road trip they are stops we would likely be making for shopping or toilet breaks anyway so adds almost no time to our journey Compared to the pumping the petrol then finding somewhere to park up to pay and grab something to eat and use the toilet.

gzt

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#3432230 8-Nov-2025 18:34

HarmLessSolutions: Overall the RUC system will then put all vehicles' running costs on a level playing field.

Hybrids will continue to use less fuel than ICE. On a per litre running cost basis the hybrid advantage over ICE will remain.

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