Drive Electric urges minister to ‘not crash EV sales

EV advocacy group Drive Electric is asking new transport and energy minister Simeon Brown to consider alternative approaches to incentivising EV sales.

Incoming Drive Electric board chair Kirsten Corson says they’ve written an open letter to Brown to say the new government intends ending the Clean Car Discount by December 31 but that there are different ways to incentivise EV uptake.

“If we take away incentives now, with the fleet only just nudging 2%, we are going to seriously harm uptake and confuse the market,” Corson says.

Drive Electric realises the government wants to electrify New Zealand and install 10,000 public charging stations.

“This is fantastic ambition, which we completely support,” Corson explains.

“Public charging is critical for enabling a functioning electric transport system. But we also need the cars – new and secondhand.

“Incentive schemes are used around the world – from Ethiopia to the United States – to accelerate EV adoption, given the obvious economic and environmental benefits,” says Corson.

“China reinstated incentives this year, after withdrawing them previously, to stimulate uptake.

“There are a range of different options we could consider here in New Zealand to create a fiscally neutral scheme to encourage New Zealanders into EVs, such as a staged withdrawal of discounts that provides consumers time to adjust, reducing rebates and tightening eligibility, and exempting certain categories of vehicle from fees (such as utes).

“Another option is looking at removing FBT (fringe benefit tax) and accelerating depreciation for commercial fleets,” says Corson.

“Businesses buy 50-60% of new vehicles (and 60% of new EVs), and usually only keep them in their fleets for two to five years.

“This could be a great source of secondhand vehicles. This model is being used in Australia, and so far is proving to be successful.”

Corson says the government is committed to reducing the cost of living and that electrifying transport is one of the most effective ways to do that. 

“Charging a BEV (battery electric vehicle) at home is the cheapest way to drive a car 100km in New Zealand, costing less than $5. (It will cost around $21 using petrol).

“Our message to the minister is let’s maintain momentum with EV uptake by creating a fit-for-purpose scheme.”

Click here to read Drive Electric’s letter.