NZTA fuel statement issues

Issues have arisen in printing fuel consumption statements from the Fuelsaver website, the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) advises.

VIA says these issues have happened since the requirement was introduced on May 31 by the NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) to have entry certifiers collecting information relating to vehicle emissions of used imports include carbon dioxide emissions as well.

The NZTA is working to fix the issues but has been hampered by having to evacuate its Palmerston North office which includes its contact centre – now operating at reduced capacity, VIA says.

The office was evacuated on June 13 after it was revealed the building is earthquake prone and has been closed until further notice.

VIA advises that anyone with queries or issues associated with the actions required to verify fuel consumption and CO2 information should email fuelconsumption@nzta.govt.nz and not phone the contact centre direct.

Emails should include as much detail as possible about the vehicle and the problem being experienced – such as sending screenshots.

The NZTA will investigate the issue and get back with a solution as soon as they can, VIA says.

“If you cannot find a Japanese import on the Fuelsaver website you will need to provide certain information to NZTA.”

Information should include a copy of the export certificate (i.e. Japanese deregistration document), the transmission type (CVT, AT, MT), the vehicle model name and year of manufacture.

NZTA will then check if they can source and enter the data so certification can proceed.

AutoTalk reported on May 31 VIA chief executive David Vinsen saying the NZTA emissions request signals the first step towards some form of feebate or average fuel economy standard.

Entry certifiers need to record the vehicles gross and tare weights, as well as its CO2 output – the latter an issue due to differing standards.

Vinsen notes there will be exemptions in many cases where information is unavailable.

“The point is this is the start of serious work to control the emissions of vehicles entering the fleet,” Vinsen says.

A feebate would see a fee charged at first registrations based on a vehicles CO2 output – a diesel ute for example could pay a $4000 levy, while an EV would receive a $4000 rebate. An average fuel economy standard would see importers need to stay under a certain average emissions level for the vehicles they import. They could bring in high emitting vehicles by balancing them with low emitting models.