Budget continues EV funding initiatives
So where in the Government’s newly announced “Rebuilding Together” Budget 2020 is there any mention of EV related projects, we asked?
That prompted a response from associate transport minister Julie Anne Genter’s office that the Budget continues funding for initiatives like the low emission vehicles contestable fund administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and the refurbishment of KiwiRail’s electric locomotives.
“The extension of Auckland’s electric passenger rail network is being funded through the NZ Upgrade. New electric passenger trains for Auckland are funded from the National Land Transport Fund,” the office’s spokesperson says.
“So there’s plenty of investment in electrification going on.”
The Budget includes a $50 billion COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund to invest in the economy and jobs.
It also puts $3.2b towards a wage subsidy scheme extension and $1.4b into trades training and apprenticeships, finance minister Grant Robertson reveals.
Infrastructure investment gets $3b with ministers soon to decide which projects to progress.
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Geoff,
Seems anything climate change related has been pout on the back burner for now.
Lost opportunity in my view.
All the “shovel ready” projects that are being contemplated, and are town centre or road corridor related, should be reviewed for charging infrastructure related inclusion. Even if its cable now and install chargers as and when required- will save a lot of additional digging in the future and mitigate one of the “invisible” costs that those putting in the infrastructure are experiencing- the cost of getting the cable to the charge point.
And no signals as to the likely future make up of the NZ fleet. NZ First, in its 2017 election policy manifesto promised a public consultation- guess they still have a couple of months to do it…..
They keep missing opportunities.