EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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Master Geek
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#3475947 31-Mar-2026 12:41

sen8or:

Will we end up with a dozen or so Chinese brands long term, who knows but there are still more entrants to come

I doubt this - the (very) long term. There may be a surge with lots of brands, but I suspect over time it will consolidate to fewer (with an exception where there may be multiple brands under the one owner, e.g. Geely = Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Geely & others). Our market isn't large enough to sustain operations for so many brands. Particularly given our history of 'grey' importing, i.e. 2nd hand from Japan and elsewhere.

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#3475949 31-Mar-2026 12:52

kangaroo13:

I doubt this - the (very) long term. There may be a surge with lots of brands, but I suspect over time it will consolidate to fewer (with an exception where there may be multiple brands under the one owner, e.g. Geely = Volvo, Polestar, Zeekr, Geely & others). Our market isn't large enough to sustain operations for so many brands. Particularly given our history of 'grey' importing, i.e. 2nd hand from Japan and elsewhere.

Until Japan brands pull their heads out of the sand, we will not see the same level of EVs come in as we have NPC grade ICE cars, they only have the Leaf pretty much, and I think NZ takes all of those that it can.

We will see a healthy low end new car market here for EVs for quite some time, perhaps even start to get some of the enticing dealer and manufacturer finance offers that are common elsewhere to let people with no/low money get into a cheap new car, instead of a Jap import castoff aqua.

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Scott3

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#3475950 31-Mar-2026 12:53

Handsomedan:

Comparing it to the incoming BYD Atto3 Evo, it feels like it'd be wildly underpowered.
They look similar in size and spec, but the BYD is almost twice as powerful with extended range and fast charging.

It'll be hard to pitch against existing EV's in a crowded market, I feel.

The e Vitara is smaller than the Atto 2.

It does beat the Atto 2 (345km) on range, offering 426 km on the RWD & 395 km on the AWD, but there is a massive price difference here.

The combination of a BYD sourced LFP battery, Strong warranty & Suzuki badging is appealing.

Suzuki is picking they will sell mostly the FWD model, but this market segment is kind of crowded. EV3, EX30, Atto 2, Dongfeng Vigo, smart #1.

But they do have a special offing with the AWD. if one wants a little AWD suv (say less than 4300mm long), this is the only option without spending $75k on a EX30 AWD...

fastbike

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Ultimate Geek
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#3476552 1-Apr-2026 12:43

Scott3:

Handsomedan:

Comparing it to the incoming BYD Atto3 Evo, it feels like it'd be wildly underpowered.
They look similar in size and spec, but the BYD is almost twice as powerful with extended range and fast charging.

It'll be hard to pitch against existing EV's in a crowded market, I feel.

The e Vitara is smaller than the Atto 2.

It does beat the Atto 2 (345km) on range, offering 426 km on the RWD & 395 km on the AWD, but there is a massive price difference here.

The combination of a BYD sourced LFP battery, Strong warranty & failure Suzuki badging is appealing.

Suzuki is picking they will sell mostly the FWD model, but this market segment is kind of crowded. EV3, EX30, Atto 2, Dongfeng Vigo, smart #1.

But they do have a special offing with the AWD. if one wants a little AWD suv (say less than 4300mm long), this is the only option without spending $75k on a EX30 AWD...

Power seems very low for the AWD model at 135kW.

My current AWD electric vehicle has 290kW and it's not much heavier.

My 2022 Leaf had 160kW

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SaltyNZ

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#3476559 1-Apr-2026 12:52

fastbike:

Power seems very low for the AWD model at 135kW.

My current AWD electric vehicle has 290kW and it's not much heavier.

My 2022 Leaf had 160kW

Yeeees... although my old 2002 1.3L Swift was also AWD and you can't have gotten much more than 60kW out of that little lawnmower engine so 135kW for the electric version is quite the upgrade.

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richms

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#3476580 1-Apr-2026 13:42

SaltyNZ:

Yeeees... although my old 2002 1.3L Swift was also AWD and you can't have gotten much more than 60kW out of that little lawnmower engine so 135kW for the electric version is quite the upgrade.

Oh yeah. Had one of those 1.3 swifts as a loaner once. I wonder why anyone would have chosen one after test driving one of them. So slow it was dangerous.

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SaltyNZ

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#3476585 1-Apr-2026 14:02

richms:

SaltyNZ:

Yeeees... although my old 2002 1.3L Swift was also AWD and you can't have gotten much more than 60kW out of that little lawnmower engine so 135kW for the electric version is quite the upgrade.

Oh yeah. Had one of those 1.3 swifts as a loaner once. I wonder why anyone would have chosen one after test driving one of them. So slow it was dangerous.

Because it was cheap, like a budgie. We are currently one of the privileged few to have an EV, but we were not always.

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lookout

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#3476886 1-Apr-2026 21:15

Question about Leaf Spy: if the dealer advertises a Leaf as a 2016 30kWh but Leaf Spy shows 24kWh (and detected the year as 2017), which do you believe? New Jap import, Chassis is AEZ0-2 which seems to most commonly be 30 but 24 models do exist.

SaltyNZ

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#3476994 1-Apr-2026 23:09

lookout:

Question about Leaf Spy: if the dealer advertises a Leaf as a 2016 30kWh but Leaf Spy shows 24kWh (and detected the year as 2017), which do you believe? New Jap import, Chassis is AEZ0-2 which seems to most commonly be 30 but 24 models do exist.

Well, if nothing else, run away from the 30s. They're garbage. Source: ex 30 owner.

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lookout

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Ultimate Geek
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#3477053 2-Apr-2026 06:51

SaltyNZ:

lookout:

Question about Leaf Spy: if the dealer advertises a Leaf as a 2016 30kWh but Leaf Spy shows 24kWh (and detected the year as 2017), which do you believe? New Jap import, Chassis is AEZ0-2 which seems to most commonly be 30 but 24 models do exist.

Well, if nothing else, run away from the 30s. They're garbage. Source: ex 30 owner.

I've come to the conclusion that this is either a stock 24kWh model, the battery was swapped out for one that size. Pretty happy with it given the SoH is at 76% and it will be a perfect commuter vehicle (and I can forget my anxiety over the 30kWh stories).

gzt

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#3477880 4-Apr-2026 14:03

Interesting and slightly annoying article on spinoff about EV owning experience:

https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/04-04-2026/range-anxiety-the-reality-of-owning-an-ev

Based on 2013 Leaf with probable range approx 100km. The owner experienced initial success going on holiday with it(!) before running out of luck with charger availability on one occasion. This suggests charger availability on holiday highways is key for the EV experience.

The owner continues to use the Leaf after a battery upgrade to 145km and has purchased a hybrid as a second car after trading a clapped out petrol vehicle. I'd guess the owner is in the NZ$10K car buyer range.

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SaltyNZ

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#3477915 4-Apr-2026 15:03

gzt:

The owner continues to use the Leaf after a battery upgrade to 145km

I guess batteries must be really cheap now because that definitely wasn't anywhere near close to being worth it when we had a Leaf. I mean ... having experienced a Leaf I think it still isn't worth it.

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typetheSHADE

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#3478053 4-Apr-2026 18:08

Hi guys! me and my wife are getting an EV soon, so I thought I'd get some advise from you all!

Ive been looking around and it seems like it would be good to have those EV chargers for the house instead of the trickle charger that it comes with. Anybody in Auckland know where I can get one supplied and installed? And if so how much it would cost?

Thanks a bunch guys!

Dingbatt

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#3478056 4-Apr-2026 18:31

typetheSHADE:

Hi guys! me and my wife are getting an EV soon, so I thought I'd get some advise from you all!

Ive been looking around and it seems like it would be good to have those EV chargers for the house instead of the trickle charger that it comes with. Anybody in Auckland know where I can get one supplied and installed? And if so how much it would cost?

Thanks a bunch guys!

Check out the EVSE Thread in this forum.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

Linuxluver

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#3478307 5-Apr-2026 17:03

typetheSHADE:

....

Ive been looking around and it seems like it would be good to have those EV chargers for the house instead of the trickle charger that it comes with. Anybody in Auckland know where I can get one supplied and installed? And if so how much it would cost?

...

The portable EVSE that comes with the car can add about 1.8kWh per hour. That's 10-12 km. Overnight, in 12 hours, that can be up to 140km. Easily 100km if you do 10 hours. If you don't drone over 100km EVERY DAY then whatever you do add each day will accumulate over time until the car is full. We have two 7.2kw wall chargers for our two EVs.....and we barely use them. If we're in a hurry, we'll go to the fast charger about 1km away.

The 7.2kw wall chargers do allow a faster turn-aroound time at home....and we do use them are arriving home on 10'-t5% after a line drive to get he car back to avoid 50% (~200km).....then we put it on the trickle charger.

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