Govt EV charger target “pre-election hype”, says Better NZ Trust chair

it hasn’t been great for the EV space and this coalition government continues its hard squeeze on the electrification of the passenger fleet, says EV advocacy group the Better NZ Trust chair Kathryn Trounson.

She says the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has “been quietly funding up to 50% of charger installations for years – and continue to do so – so any money the government mentions is actually half of what will be spent”.

“It’s more egregious in my view that David (Seymour) of ACT wants an extra layer of cost-benefit analysis which just sounds nuts and a great way to slow the process down.”

Trounson says EV charger installation has continued this year, although “largely under the radar” by ChargeNet, BP, Z Energy and Tesla – the latter using no government money.

“The original 10,000 charger hype was obviously to win the election – because the coalition have used every opportunity since then to blow up the EV market – and so far have done a pretty good job,” says Trounson.

“Decarbonisation is essential to the well-being of New Zealand– and this government seems immune to the threat of global catastrophe, even when terrible flooding, etc, happens.”