The trend for buying electric or hybrid vehicles is rocketing – but if you’re buying a used one, what do you need to know first? Indira Stewart, reporting for Fair Go, talks to one disappointed EV owner and finds out why.
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To EV, or not to EV. That’s the question on the minds of many car buyers in New Zealand today. In 2021, I was one of them – tussling with the thought of entering the unknown world of electric cars with very little understanding of how they worked. But I joined the trend of EV and Hybrid car ownership which has risen rapidly in recent years both here and around the world.
And for the past three years I’ve raved to my family and friends about what a game changer my second-hand EV has been. With four kids in three different schools and a work commute, I’ve saved thousands of dollars on petrol and it costs about $2 a week in power to charge my second-hand Nissan Leaf. The only time I’ve seen a mechanic in three years was to change a tyre.
So when Dr Jess May-Breton emailed Fair Go about her very different EV experience, I was intrigued. I bought the exact same vehicle as her at the same time, and our second-hand cars were about the same age. How was a dream ride for me a nightmare for her?
May-Breton and her husband James decided to make the switch from petrol cars after they moved to Kaukapakapa, a rural area just outside of Auckland, which meant they each faced a lengthy commute every day. They visited a car yard in Auckland, initially intending to buy hybrid vehicles. “I explained that I had a 90-kilometre round commute,” says May-Breton.
That car yard was Auckland City Electric Vehicles Limited, a different legal entity from ACEV Limited which now runs the ”Auckland City Electric Vehicles” business at the same location.
The salesperson suggested the pair might like to go fully electric. “He pointed to the Nissan Leaf and we were told it had a battery health of 85 percent and the range [which refers to the number of kilometres the car can travel on a single charge] was 130 kilometres. And they knew where we lived and what kind of driving we would be doing, out on the open road on 100km/h and then on to the motorway.”
Although initially reluctant because she didn’t know much about them, May-Breton decided to buy a second-hand EV. She paid $14,900 for the five-year-old Nissan Leaf which had clocked 101,000 km at the time.
“We knew higher battery health was better so we kind of just took their word for it. They were the dealer and they were the experts.”
Just a few days later, the battery started playing up.
“I got home with the lights on the dashboard flashing, like there was no battery left. I wasn’t sure I was going to make it home. I’d never driven an EV before so I didn’t know how long I had left when the lights started flashing,” says May-Breton.
“I called the dealer and told them something seemed not quite right.”
Auckland City Electric Vehicles Limited offered to take the vehicle back and refund the purchase price. They also recommended other vehicles more suitable for May-Breton’s needs, but due to her tight budget she was reluctant to upgrade to a more expensive car and she declined the offer of a refund.
Over the next year or so, she felt the battery was getting worse.
In April 2023, May-Breton went back to the dealer and learned Auckland City Electric Vehicles Limited had sold its assets to ACEV Limited, a different legal entity which was now running the business under the same name (sans “Limited”)
As the new owners hadn’t sold the vehicle to May-Breton’s husband, they weren’t liable. However, when May-Breton contacted the business in April 2023, the new owners ACEV Limited responded and offered to have the vehicle’s battery independently tested at no cost.
The independent testing was done twice – once in May 2023 and again in May 2024. No faults were found and the slight decline in battery health was well within the expected range.
In July 2024, May-Breton took her case to the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal, claiming the vehicle battery’s state of health wasn’t what the original car dealer had said it was as the vehicle wasn’t handling the promised travel range.
‘The most desirable conditions’
The Tribunal’s assessor found the battery’s state meant it would achieve 130km of driving under the most desirable conditions. As May-Breton was mostly using the vehicle for open road driving (which is not the most desirable) it would achieve significantly less.
The Tribunal found that “the condition of the battery at the time of sale was simply consistent with its age, price and mileage at that time”. It also believed the battery had degraded at an acceptable rate considering how May-Breton had been using the car.
“The batteries in electric vehicles degrade over time due to a range of factors including environmental conditions, the charging behaviour of the owners and the way the vehicle has been used,” it said.
But the Tribunal did find the previous owners of the business, Auckland City Electric Vehicles Limited had misled her as it had told her the vehicle would be suitable for her needs. “Mr and Mrs Breton were in fact misled. The advice that the vehicle would be able to travel 130 km per day including a 90 km round-trip was false and therefore misleading,” the decision read.
Mileage isn’t everything
Richard Edwards, an industry expert who runs EV and Beyond magazine, explains that the total range or distance that can be driven with a full battery is often measured by a “best case scenario” – for example May-Breton may have been able to travel 130km on a full battery if she was driving on a flat suburban road, using no air conditioning or radio throughout the journey.
But as her daily commute from Kaukapakapa to Auckland city involved a windy road, lots of hills and open roads with 100km/h speed limits for most of the journey, the Nissan Leaf would have struggled to make the commute on a full battery, as the Tribunal pointed out.
Auckland City Electric Vehicles Limited were ordered to pay May-Breton and her husband $2600 to contribute to a replacement battery and the costs of independent testing.
How healthy is your battery?
As an owner of a similarly aged Nissan Leaf, I asked Edwards if he could analyse the battery health of my car. Edwards used an app called Leaf Spy to analyse my battery and was impressed. “At 108,000 kilometres, you’ve still got 74% of your battery left. For a relatively affordable Leaf that’s been on the road now for about eight, nine years, that’s pretty impressive.”
The Tribunal notes that Leaf Spy app is commonly used by Nissan Leaf owners and is a generally reliable indicator of a battery’s state of health, but Edwards advises it’s not a silver bullet. “I would say definitely go get your battery checked if you’re not sure. There are some commercial companies that can do that for you. And always check the warranty on the battery before buying.”
Know your car’s history
Edwards also advises that you want a car that hasn’t been DC charged frequently – those are the public fast chargers you find at supermarkets and other public areas. They can be detrimental to a battery if used too often. Charging at home is much more gentle on your battery.
An EV world
In 2017, there were over 6000 plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles registered on our roads. Now, there are over 109,000.
These figures reflect a rapid trend around the world. In July, data from the China Passengers Car Association revealed for the first time, more than half of approximately 30 million cars sold in China were electric. China’s car market moves about 26 million new vehicles a year.
Edwards says about half of New Zealand’s used car imports are now hybrids.
“Don’t let any of it put you off going electric. Just make sure you know what you’re getting. It’s the same old deals with buying any car, petrol, hybrid, electric or diesel.”
Would he go back to a petrol car?
“No, I wouldn’t.”
And despite May-Breton’s experience, I wouldn’t either.
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