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NZ Electric Vehicle Take-up Needs More Drive

NZ Electric Vehicle Take-up Needs More Drive

(15 August 2018 - New Zealand) Industry lobby group Drive Electric has declared that the New Zealand government needs to be acting now if it is to put into action a sustained take-up of electric vehicles (EVs) as part of its emissions reduction strategy. To reach the current target of 64,000 EVs on the road by the end of 2021, New Zealand will need to add about 50,000 vehicles by 2021. According to official data sources from the Ministry of Transport, only 550 EVs were added to the New Zealand car fleet in July with 121 of them new. The total New Zealand EV fleet currently stands at 9,241 which has doubled in size year-on-year and positions the country roughly eight months ahead of the 2018 target. If New Zealand continues adding 550 EVs a month it will surpass 12,000 EVs by the end of 2018.

The current targets were set by the former National government and the coalition has promoted the prospect of greater electrification of transport as a key part of its climate change response, a strategy endorsed by the Productivity Commission. Labour’s pre-election policy included converting all government fleets to electric vehicles where it was practical to do so. Green Party leader James Shaw also favoured changes to fringe benefit tax rules to encourage greater EV take-up in corporate fleets.

The government’s position on EVs and any possible incentives will likely align with the Zero Carbon Act and the establishment of the independent Climate Change Commission however Drive Electric believes that risks further delay while the 2021 EV deadline gets closer all the time. Power firms, car and van retailers and lines companies are working to encourage uptake of EVs. Mercury NZ announced a pilot subscription service in Auckland with Snap Rentals that will allow consumers to rent a range of EVs on a monthly basis from NZ$469 a month. Drive Electric has spent more than a year advocating for a change in fringe benefit tax rules to make it easier for firms to replace conventional internal combustion-engine cars with usually higher cost EVs. Drive Electric believes policymakers need to understand that New Zealand is a small market, is already competing for access to new EVs and may soon face more competition from Australia for access to used Japanese EVs.

“The used-import sector is doing a good job of providing reasonably-priced cars and the annual doubling of the electric fleet is heartening, but that figure is rising from a very low base and that momentum will be hard to maintain without an increase in new EV imports. That’s a pretty steep curve from a volume point of view. I really don’t see that happening - based on what is happening now. The thing that is going to make the difference isn’t the private market – it’s the fleet market. Whichever way you cut it, New Zealand is small so we need to be able to drive more significant volumes to make it of more interest” Drive Electric Chair Mark Gilbert stated.

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