Welcome to the January 2022 EVs and Beyond magazine
Welcome to our first issue for 2022.
The Omicron red traffic light has made for an awkward start to the year, but EV dealers aren’t that worried about it as they can continue trading under the COVID restrictions.
In fact, EV enquiries and sales have been going great guns and are likely to continue to do so, especially now that transport minister Michael Wood has confirmed to us that rebates will continue with Clean Car scheme final rules expected to be in place by March 31.
That should set the “fee” part of the “feebate” scheme, charges for bringing in high-emission vehicles (dubbed the “ute tax”) likely to offset rebate incentives for low to zero emission vehicles.
“Together with colleagues at the Ministry of Transport, we’re working hard to finalise the details needed to support the legislative process for the Clean Car Bill,” says Wood who expects the April 1, 2022 implementation date to be met.
Questions around whether the EV rebate will continue are among the top questions asked of EV dealerships by enquirers.
You can read more about what EV dealers think in this issue.
The EV of the Year is featured too.
We also profile Autolink EV’s new downtown Auckland showroom in Beach Road and managing director Henry Schmidt’s thoughts about the future for his business and the EV industry.
Richard Edwards checks out the new Polestar 2 now available in New Zealand, plus we look at EVs Enhanced’s Nissan Leaf replacement battery pack trio set to revolutionise the industry.
An e-bus trip from Wellington to Auckland pleasantly surprised driver Jo Crickett, and a global study suggests more EV education is needed because many people still don’t understand an EV’s benefits.
Speaking of COVID, New Plymouth’s Electricarna event is now postponed until probably later this year – among a raft of car-related and other festivals now off or delayed because of the Omicron outbreak.
We profile a massive Christchurch solar project, and you can read about what ITSNZ is up to along with stats tables, what’s hot in the EV world and much more.
Enjoy the read (especially if you are self-isolating).
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