“Decent” EV incentives coming – minister

Incentives to buy electric vehicles will be coming from the Government shortly.

That’s according to climate change minister James Shaw who says EV incentives are being worked on.

“What we’re trying to do is get a package that incentivises your middle-class people to be able to do that, but also ensures that low income families aren’t left behind,” he told The AM Show

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New Zealand has 10,000 EVs compared to 210 five years ago, so there is an “exponential growth rate”, Shaw says. However, it’s still only 0.25% of the four million vehicles on the roads, he adds.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern is the keynote speaker at United Nations Climate Week in New York this week where she will promote New Zealand’s initiatives around curbing climate change.

Shaw says she will discuss how “countries dragging the chain need to get their act together”.

Even New Zealand’s carbon dioxide emissions are increasing, according to the Ministry for the Environment, with the country unlikely to meet its 2030 and 2050 targets.

“New Zealand’s emissions have been going up rather than down, and like every other country in the world, we’ve got to bend the curve, and the next 10 years is going to be critical,” Shaw says.

One measure the Government is considering is the Productivity Commission’s recommendation for a “feebate” scheme which would place a fee on high emission vehicles while lower emission vehicles like EVs would receive a rebate.