What the specs on an EV listing actually mean

EV listings come with their own vocabulary. Most of it matters. Here's what each spec means and which ones to focus on.

Battery and range

Battery capacity

The total energy the battery can store when new, in kilowatt-hours (kWh). It's the EV equivalent of fuel tank size: bigger generally means more range, but also more weight, longer charging times, and a higher original price. EVs on the NZ market mostly sit between 24 kWh at the small end and 100 kWh for long-range models.

Battery health

Current usable capacity as a percentage of the original. A reading of 85% means the battery holds about 85% of the energy it did when new. Some degradation is normal, especially in the first few years and after about 100,000 km. As a rough guide: above 90% is excellent for a used car, 80 to 90% is solid, 70 to 80% is workable but worth a price discount, and below 70% starts to limit what the car can realistically do day to day.

Remaining capacity vs original

Often shown as something like "≈ 34 kWh of 40 kWh original". Same idea as battery health, just stated in absolute kWh. It's what you'll actually be driving on, which matters more than the spec-sheet number.

Battery grade

A relative reading. "Fair for age", "good for age" and so on tell you how this particular battery is doing compared to the typical degradation curve for that model and year. A five-year-old battery at 85% is doing fine. A one-year-old battery at the same number is a warning sign.

Range

How far the car will go on a full charge today, taking current battery health into account. This is almost always a more useful figure than the manufacturer's original WLTP number, which assumed a new battery and lab conditions. Real-world range drops noticeably with motorway speeds, hills, heating, and cold weather. Plan for 15 to 25% less than the rated figure through a Canterbury or Otago winter.

Battery chemistry

Two main types you'll see.

NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) packs more range into less weight, but is more sensitive to heat and full charging. Used in Leafs, Konas, and most older imports.

LFP (Lithium Iron Phosphate) is less energy-dense but much more durable, happily charges to 100% every day, and handles a lot more cycles before degrading. Used in newer Teslas, BYDs, and most entry-level EVs now coming through.

For a used car, LFP usually means less to worry about. NMC usually means more range from new.

Charging

Charging standards (CHAdeMO, CCS2, Type 2)

The plug types your car can use.

Type 2 is the standard AC plug for slower home and public charging across NZ.

CCS2 is the modern DC fast-charging standard used by almost all new EVs sold today.

CHAdeMO is an older DC fast-charging standard developed in Japan. You'll find it on older Nissan Leafs and most Japanese imports. CCS2 is the direction for most new EVs and often gets the fastest and more numerous plugs at newer sites, but CHAdeMO is still widely supported here — ChargeNet maintains it across its network, and DC stations are generally expected to offer both. If you're buying a CHAdeMO car, just check the chargers on the routes you actually drive.

DC fast charging

DC chargers feed the battery directly, bypassing the car's onboard AC charger. They'll typically take you from 20% to 80% in 30 to 60 minutes. AC charging at home is much slower (anywhere from 4 to 12 hours from empty) but it's cheaper and gentler on the battery. Most owners do almost all their charging at home and only use DC fast charging on road trips.

V2L (vehicle-to-load)

Lets the car act as a giant battery pack, with regular sockets you can plug appliances into. Good for camping, blackouts, or running tools on a site. Common on Hyundai and Kia EVs and the newer MGs. Rare on older Leafs and most earlier imports. "Not supported" means the car only charges, it doesn't discharge to anything external.

Charging cable

Whether the cable for plugging into a wall outlet or a public AC charger comes with the car. Replacements are $300 to $800, so it's worth knowing. Fresh imports sometimes arrive without one.

Motor and drivetrain

Motor power

The motor's output in kilowatts (1 kW is about 1.34 hp). Anything in the 40 to 60 kW range is fine around town but starts to feel underpowered on the motorway. 100 kW and up gets you confident overtaking. 200+ kW is properly quick. Worth distinguishing from battery capacity, which uses similar units: power is the rate energy can flow, capacity is how much is stored.

Drive type

FWD (front-wheel drive) covers most affordable EVs and is fine for normal conditions.

RWD (rear-wheel drive) is common in Teslas and many modern EVs, and gives better weight balance.

AWD (all-wheel drive) means a second motor on the other axle. Better traction on gravel, snow, and steep wet driveways. The trade-off is range, usually a small reduction.

Transmission

Almost all EVs are listed as "automatic" because they have a single-speed gearbox. There's nothing to shift. The field is on listings mostly to match what people are used to seeing on petrol cars.

The rest of the listing

Year

Model year, not necessarily the year first registered in NZ. Imports often spent several years on the road in Japan or the UK before they got here, which matters for warranty and battery age. A 2020 model listed today might have a battery that's already seen six years of charge cycles.

Odometer

Standard kilometre reading. EVs have less to wear out at the same mileage than petrol cars: no engine oil, no clutch, no gearbox under load, and regen braking takes most of the work off the brake pads. A high-km EV isn't the warning sign it would be on an ICE car. Battery health is the more useful number to look at.

Trim

The model variant. Different trims often have different features, sometimes different battery sizes, and significantly different prices. Naming is all over the place: Tesla uses Standard Range, Long Range and Performance; Nissan uses S, SV, G, X and e+; Renault uses Life, Zen, and Intens. Worth a quick search for the trim on whatever model you're considering.

Rego plate

The current NZ registration. You can use it to check WoF status, reported odometer history, and any flagged issues on the NZTA website before going to see the car.

Body type, seats, colour, location

Standard car listing fields, nothing EV-specific about them.

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If you only check three things on a listing before clicking through, make them battery health, charging standard, and current range. The rest of the specs help you compare cars. Those three tell you whether a particular car is actually going to work for what you need.

When you're ready, browse EVs for sale and put this checklist to work on real listings. New to electric? Start with going electric in New Zealand, then size up the savings with the EV Running Cost Calculator.