EVs will drive low emissions future

The newly released Emissions Reduction Plan confirms the future of mobility in New Zealand will be electric, supporting widespread adoption of EVs.

“If you watch the global automotive market – we’ve been seeing for some time that EV technology will replace petrol and diesel cars. This may happen faster than you might think,” says Drive Electric chair Mark Gilbert.  

“We are pleased to see other key initiatives that we have been advocating for are included in the plan, like the completion of a national charging infrastructure strategy, a vehicle scrappage scheme, a social leasing programme, and the investigation of extending the Clean Car Discount to other vehicle types.

“Drive Electric welcomes the Emissions Reduction Plan. However, the time for talking is now well over. It’s time to get on with executing the plan and removing emissions from transport.

“As such, we would love to see broad support across parliament for the transport provisions in this plan to create certainty for business and consumers,” Gilbert adds.

“Most of the manufacturers have made some form of commitment to going completely electric as have many countries, including the UK. Today signals that New Zealand wants to be part of that transition and avoid becoming a dumping ground for dirty secondhand vehicles from other markets.

“This makes so much sense for a country with our access to renewable energy. EVs will drive down the costs of owning a vehicle and give New Zealand more energy independence. The world around us today shows how important that will be.”

Drive Electric point out that New Zealand has more than 70 new EV models available, that EV registrations are up 38% from last year, that 39% of all vehicles sold in April were an EV, PHEV or a hybrid, and that globally more than $400 billion has been invested in the EV sector in the last decade.