EV Data: Sources and Definitions
Definitions
- EV – Anything with a plug (BEV and PHEV) – as per Waka Kotahi’s definition.
- BEV – Battery Electric Vehicle (full electric, no combustion engine).
- PHEV – Plugin Hybrid Electric Vehicle (a battery that can be charged externally, as well as a combustion engine).
- Hybrid – Plugless (the MVR databases have various classifications for this).
- Light vehicle – A vehicle under 3,500 kg and a type of PASSENGER CAR/VAN or GOODS VAN/TRUCK/UTILITY. Includes cars (sedans, SUVs, hatchbacks, etc.), small vans (like a Toyota Hiace), and Utes (Ford Ranger, etc.).
- New vs Used Imports – All vehicles registered in NZ are imported built up. Some have been pre-owned (typically in Japan or the UK).
Data Sources
The NZ Motor Vehicle Reg database is complex, and the data quality is poor.
Waka Kotahi Open Data (main link)
- Fleet: CSV downloads of each model year.
- Registrations: Dashboard of monthly data from 2020 onwards.
- Fleet: Motor Vehicle Register and API
- Monthly Spreadsheets – Additions to the fleet.
- Monthly Spreadsheets – Fleet Status
Ministry of Transport
Some of the data is not great (e.g. all BMW i3, IX3, IX, etc., are all registered as BMW I), so there’s a bit of work to make things understandable.
Fleet vs Registrations
- Registrations are new (or used import) vehicles coming into the register.
This gives an understanding of the increase of EVs down to make and model detail. - The NZ fleet is much more difficult to measure. Once in the register, the vehicle may have a status of licensed, unlicensed, or on an exemption.
