EV running costs in Canterbury: what owners are actually paying now

The RUC exemption for light EVs is gone. We break down what Leaf, Ioniq 5 and MG4 owners in Canterbury are paying per month and whether the price drop on used EVs has kept pace.

The RUC exemption was always a policy tool dressed up as an environmental gesture, and now that it is gone, the real cost of running a light EV in New Zealand is visible without flattering lighting.

From April 2024, EV owners pay $76 per 1,000 km in road-user charges. For context, a Canterbury driver doing 15,000 km a year pays $1,140 in RUCs on top of electricity. A driver doing 20,000 km, which is not unusual for anyone commuting from Rolleston or Rangiora into the city, pays $1,520. These are real numbers, and they deserve to sit next to the fuel savings before anyone declares the EV case closed.

What the monthly cost actually looks like

Take a 2018 Nissan Leaf with the 40 kWh battery, currently one of the more common used EVs in the Canterbury market at around $18,000 to $21,000 depending on condition and kilometre reading. At 15,000 km annually, the RUC bill is $95 a month. Home charging at average New Zealand electricity rates around $0.28 to $0.32 per kWh, and assuming real-world consumption of roughly 18 kWh per 100 km in mixed Canterbury driving with winter thrown in, puts your charging cost around $63 to $72 a month for that same distance. Total running cost before insurance, WoF and maintenance: roughly $158 to $167 a month.

A comparable petrol car, say a 2018 Toyota Corolla covering the same distance at 7 litres per 100 km, burns through about 87.5 litres a month. At $2.70 per litre that is $236 a month in fuel alone, and you still need a WoF annually after the car turns three years old.

So the Leaf is still cheaper to run month to month, by somewhere between $60 and $80. The question is whether the purchase price makes the maths work over a realistic ownership period, and here is where things get complicated.

The Ioniq 5 and MG4 are a different calculation

The Hyundai Ioniq 5 and MG4 Excite sit in a different bracket, both in price and in what they offer. Used Ioniq 5s from 2022 onwards are trading in the $42,000 to $52,000 range on the New Zealand used market right now, depending on variant and kilometres. The MG4 Excite, which has moved in volume since launch, can be found used in the low-to-mid $30,000s.

At 15,000 km a year, the RUC cost is identical regardless of which EV you drive: $1,140. But the larger battery in both cars changes the charging economics. The Ioniq 5 Long Range at roughly 16 kWh per 100 km real-world is efficient for its size. The MG4 Standard Range comes in around 15 to 17 kWh per 100 km depending on conditions. Running cost per month in electricity terms is similar to the Leaf or slightly lower per kilometre, though total bill depends on how many kilometres you do.

The real objection to both cars at those prices is not the running cost. It is the depreciation curve. An Ioniq 5 bought at $50,000 used today in a market where buyer confidence in EV resale is still finding its floor carries meaningful price risk. The MG4 is a better hedge purely on entry price, and frankly its real-world range and charging behaviour have been solid in the reports coming back from owners.

Has the price correction gone far enough

Used EV prices in New Zealand have dropped materially since the Clean Car Discount ended in December 2023. Before the discount closed, a 40 kWh Leaf in good condition was fetching $24,000 to $27,000. That same car is now $18,000 to $21,000. That is a genuine correction, not a rounding error, and it does change the breakeven calculation.

Here is what I think, though: for the Leaf specifically, the correction has probably gone far enough. At $19,000 with a solid service history, a buyer at 15,000 km a year still saves around $70 a month over a petrol equivalent, and the purchase price gap to a comparable petrol car has narrowed to the point where the maths actually holds across a four-year ownership window without needing to squint.

For the Ioniq 5, the correction has not gone far enough yet. Paying $48,000 for a two-year-old EV in a market where the new-car equivalent is softening in price, and where RUCs have just added $1,140 a year to your forward costs, requires a high tolerance for uncertainty. The car itself is genuinely good. The price is the problem.

The MG4 sits in the middle. It is cheap enough that the RUC hit does not undo the value proposition, the car does what it claims, and buyers who are not brand-loyal have warmed to it for practical reasons.

Cold Canterbury mornings are worth mentioning once and then leaving alone: yes, lithium batteries lose capacity in the cold, and yes, a 40 kWh Leaf in July in Christchurch will not behave like it does in March. Plan for ten to fifteen percent less real-world range on the coldest days. That is not a dealbreaker, but it is relevant if your daily commute is sitting near the edge of the car's comfortable range.

The exemption made EVs look better than they were on paper. Now the paper is honest, and the Leaf still makes sense at current prices. That is a more useful conclusion than any rebate ever provided.