Nissan Leaf is NZ's most popular used-import EV. Between 2015 and 2017, more than 1800 were registered, meaning they comprise more than a third of the country's total EV fleet. (file photo)

The number of electric and hybrid cars - EVs - on our roads has increased dramatically - from just 190 in January 2013 to 4541 last month.

That's a 2290 per cent increase in less than five years. During January 2013, not a single electric vehicle was registered in New Zealand. In August this year, 331 were registered.

Figures from the Ministry of Transport (MoT) map the growth in the EV fleet and shows that, in the seven months since 2016, it has almost doubled - up from 2535.

That puts the country ahead of its target of having 4000 EVs on our roads by the end of 2017. That goal was a step towards the national target of 64,000 EVS by the end of 2021 - about two per cent of the number of cars in the country.

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In theory - if they were replacing petrol cars - that would result in a two per cent decrease in vehicle emissions.

SUPPLIED The Mitsubishi Outlander was the most commonly registered plug-in hybrid between 2015 and 2017. (file photo)

Brent Lewers, principal adviser at the MoT, said the number of EV registrations began to increase at a higher rate in May 2016 after the government announced incentives to get more EVs on the roads.

That had given potential buyers more confidence and also resulted in increased availability and cheaper cars.

According to the figures, between 2015 and 2017, the most popular used, pure electric car model was the Nissan leaf - 1864 were registered.

In the new car category, the Mitsubishi Outlander was most common plug-in hybrid - with 465 registered.

Interestingly, the extremely common standard Toyota Prius was not classed as an EV because it did not plug in to charge, the Lewers said.

There were several thousand of those Priuses in the country. There were about 110 of rarer, plug-in Prius model.

Almost half of the EV fleet was registered in Auckland - 2452.

The fleet was made up mainly of light vehicles - only 75 heavy vehicles were part of it.

Used and imported hybrid or electric cars made up the bulk of those being registered, as compared to new vehicles. In August, electric and hybrid cars only made up 2.25 per cent of vehicle registrations.

But that's high compared to January 2014 - when only they made up 0.05 per cent of registrations.

The MoT said a key limitation of the uptake of electric vehicles in New Zealand was the availability of used imports.

Supply in Japan - where the majority of imports came from - was limited and only growing slowly.

Another limiting factor was the perception in New Zealand that charging stations were essential to owning an EV, Lewers said.

In other countries, about 90 per cent of charging EVs occurred at people's homes. To increase EVs in NZ, the mentality had to shift to home charging.

Running an EV was equivalent to buying petrol at 30 cents a litre, according to the MoT.