Petrol thefts are on the rise as more motorists struggle with pain at the pump.

Ben was putting petrol in his car, and a bunch of canisters he had brought with him to town.

"I normally fill up weekly but I'll grab some extra because I know the fuel prices are going up so I'll fill up my other containers at the same time, it's just crazy."

On the other side of the pump, Brett was grabbing as much diesel as he could - that was $27.

"And I got 12.6 litres which is crazy - this is more than petrol was this time last year, it's more than 91 was - where are we going from here?"

He says that would last him a few days but he was only using his car for essential travel at the moment - rising fuel prices have hit his budget hard.

With limited public transport in Whangārei, he considered electric vehicles but they were also out of his price range.

"I'd love to get one but they start out somewhere like $40k-plus and the average person can't afford that, so that's a dream really."

Across town, Grant Smith was already living that reality - he had driven all the way north from Arrowtown in his Tesla and was charging in a central Whangārei carpark.

"We decided to do the road trip all the way up here because the cost is so minimal."

Smith says petrol prices are not something he thinks about these days.

"Once you've spent the money buying an electric car it certainly becomes irrelevant and if you charge your car at home, as we normally do, we end up spending about 2 cents a kilometre to run it."

Smith says he has some sympathy for those struggling with petrol prices who are living on the breadline - but less for those who chose to drive big cars.

"A lot of people want to drive the big utes and if they want to pay for that, then that's fine by them."

As costs rise, Z Energy and Caltex have reported an increase in petrol thefts - a spokesperson was not able to provide numbers but said all incidents were being logged with police.

Meanwhile, the appetite for electric vehicles is growing - gradually.

Latest figures show there were 39,598 electric and hybrid light vehicle registrations in February - an increase of 1478 on the month before but nearly 15,000 more than the same time a year ago.

The chairperson of Drive Electric, an advocacy group for EVs, Mark Gilbert, says they would eventually become the norm, and petrol price increases may be what was needed to help some kiwis make the shift.

"This is the start of a wave and I think the wave will get stronger and bigger over time because pretty well all car manufacturers from Europe, and even now more from Japan, are signalling that they're going to go electric - so we've got to click into it," Gilbert said.

"This is a monumental shift that's being proposed - it'd be the only time in my lifetime that I've seen incentives for people to buy cars."

Gilbert says the supply of fossil fuel right-hand drive vehicles would get more difficult over time, whereas the availability of electric vehicles would get easier over time.

In addition, the price for used cars was quite strong at the moment.

"There's so many different vehicles, different price points, both new and used depending on what you're trading.

"You can buy an EV - an old Nissan Leaf, for about $12,000 - so I guess, how low do you have to go?"

Modal shift was also a key part of moving away from reliance on fossil fuels - where possible walking, public transport and cycling, he said.

There is also the option to not own a vehicle at all, and instead use one from a time-share service where necessary.

-RNZ/Nita Blake-Persen.