STORE FINDER
Electrify NZ founder Michael Tritt spoke to The NZ Herald recently about something a lot of Kiwis are quietly doing the maths on right now: what it actually costs to get from A to B.
With unleaded 91 sitting at around well over $3 a litre, filling a car is an expensive exercise for many people. Charging an e-bike? Around 20 cents. It's the kind of number that tends to land differently when you're standing at the pump.
Electrify NZ's sales have surged since the fuel crisis kicked in, with stores across the Country all seeing a lift. That tracks with what's showing up in the data more broadly. Trade Me reported a 49% surge in e-bike searches in the five weeks to late March compared to the same period last year, and bikes are moving faster once they're listed, too.
Auckland Transport chimed in with their own numbers: cycling across the city rose 6.3% in February and March compared to the same months in 2025. Just under 1.24 million trips were recorded over those two months, and that's with more rainy days than the year before.
None of this is a coincidence. People who were already considering an e-bike are pulling the trigger sooner because the economics have shifted. As one Auckland retailer put it in the Herald piece, higher fuel prices aren't pushing people into a decision they didn't want to make. They're just confirming what people were already thinking.
The Herald article also touched on salary sacrifice schemes, which let employees buy an e-bike from their pre-tax income. Depending on your tax rate, that can knock around 30% off the purchase price. Companies like The Wheel Deal handle the admin side for employers, making it straightforward to set up as a staff benefit. If your workplace doesn't offer it yet, it's worth asking.
Michael's advice in the article was simple: go into your local store and take one for a test ride. That's still the best way to figure out whether an e-bike makes sense for you and your commute.
If you're at that point, we've got some top-rated electric commuter bikes on sale right now through our Fuel-Free Commuting sale, with savings of up to $2,500 across brands including Gepida, Smartmotion and more.
Browse the Fuel-Free Commuting sale here.
Want to read the full NZ Herald piece? Check it out here.
