EV running costs vs petrol: what Canterbury drivers actually pay
The NZ Angle
Light EVs lost their RUC exemption in April 2024, and the current rate sits at $76 per 1,000 kilometres for vehicles under 3,500 kg. That changes the maths considerably. Before the exemption ended, EV owners were effectively getting free road funding, which made the fuel-cost comparison against petrol cars look flattering in almost every scenario. Now you're paying both for electricity and for road use, and electricity in New Zealand hasn't been kind lately. Meridian, Contact, and Genesis have all lifted household rates over the past 18 months, with many Canterbury residential customers now sitting above 30 cents per kWh on standard plans, and considerably more on peak evening rates if they're not on a time-of-use tariff. Charging at home on a standard meter overnight is still the cheapest approach, but it's no longer the near-free proposition some buyers were sold on when they signed the paperwork. The Clean Car Discount is gone too, so the purchase price premium on a new or near-new EV no longer gets softened at the border. What remains is a genuine question: once you account for RUCs, real-world electricity costs, and the purchase price gap, does an EV still save you money against a comparable petrol car over a typical ownership period? The numbers are worth running honestly.
RUC charges are locked in, power prices keep climbing. We crunch the real per-kilometre numbers for the Leaf, MG ZS EV, and BYD Atto 3 against their petrol rivals.
The case for buying a used EV in New Zealand used to rest on a simple foundation: fuel is expensive, electricity is cheap, and the government will subsidise the difference. Two of those three things have changed. Petrol in Canterbury is sitting somewhere between $2.50 and $3.00 a litre depending on the week and whether you're running a discount card. Electricity, though, has been climbing steadily, and the RUC exemption that made EVs look so attractive on paper has been gone since April 2024.
So the question for a buyer looking at a used Nissan Leaf, MG ZS EV, or BYD Atto 3 this spring is: what does it actually cost to drive one of these cars per kilometre, all in?
The electricity and RUC baseline
Start with the Nissan Leaf, because it's the most common used EV on New Zealand roads and the one most Canterbury buyers will encounter first. A 40 kWh Leaf — the mid-generation model, 2018 to 2022 — consumes around 16 to 18 kWh per 100 km in real driving. Not the WLTP number, actual driving, which in Canterbury means hills, cold mornings that hurt battery efficiency, and a fair bit of stop-start through the city. Call it 17 kWh/100 km as a working figure.
At 30 cents per kWh on a standard home plan, that's $5.10 in electricity per 100 km. Add RUCs at $76 per 1,000 km, which is 7.6 cents per kilometre or $7.60 per 100 km. Combined running cost: $12.70 per 100 km. That's the number most EV advocates don't lead with.
The MG ZS EV is heavier and draws more. The first-generation model, a 44.5 kWh battery, sits around 17 to 19 kWh/100 km in real conditions. Similar charging costs, same RUC rate. You're in roughly the same band as the Leaf, call it $13.00 to $13.50 per 100 km all in.
The BYD Atto 3 is a bigger car with a 60.5 kWh battery in the standard range model. Real-world consumption is typically 18 to 21 kWh/100 km, particularly if you're using the climate system hard in a Canterbury winter. That pushes the electricity cost to $5.70 to $6.30 per 100 km, plus the same RUC slug. You're looking at $13.30 to $13.90 per 100 km as a realistic figure.
What petrol actually costs over the same distance
A Toyota Corolla hybrid — a sensible petrol comparison for the Leaf bracket — returns around 4.5 to 5.5 L/100 km in mixed driving. At $2.75 a litre, that's $12.40 to $15.10 per 100 km. No RUCs. WoF once a year after the first three years, same as the EVs.
A Mazda CX-5 petrol, which sits in the same market space as the Atto 3, uses 8 to 9.5 L/100 km in honest mixed conditions. At current pump prices that's $22 to $26 per 100 km. That's where the EV advantage holds clearly, in the SUV bracket against a naturally aspirated petrol engine.
A Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris against the Leaf? The gap narrows to almost nothing. A frugal small hatch doing 5.5 L/100 km costs around $15 per 100 km in petrol. The Leaf, with RUCs factored in, sits at $12.70. You're saving roughly $2.30 per 100 km, which over 15,000 km a year is $345. That's not nothing, but it's not transformational.
What this means for a buying decision
The EV running cost story still makes sense in certain situations. If you're driving significant kilometres in a larger vehicle class and you can charge at home on a reasonable electricity plan, the Atto 3 against a petrol SUV is still a meaningful saving. The BYD's acquisition cost is also higher than a comparable used petrol SUV, though, so the payback period stretches out.
For buyers looking at a used Leaf as a second car or a short-commute daily driver, the economics have softened considerably since the RUC exemption ended. The car still makes sense if the purchase price is right and the battery health is solid — degraded Leaf batteries can push real-world consumption up significantly, which ruins the numbers. Always check the battery state of health before buying any older Leaf.
The MG ZS EV sits in an awkward middle. It's cheaper to buy than the Atto 3, the running costs are similar, but parts availability and long-term reliability data in New Zealand is still limited. That's a risk worth pricing into your offer.
The honest picture for Canterbury buyers this spring: EVs are still cheaper to run than comparable petrol SUVs, but cheaper than small petrol cars by a margin that's shrunk considerably. If you're buying on running cost savings alone, do the maths for your specific situation rather than taking anyone's word for it — including the seller's.
By Auto Luxe. See our editorial standards or email sales@autoluxe.co.nz with corrections.
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