A government proposal to make electric, hybrid and fuel efficient vehicles more affordable will see the price of utes go up.
Associate transport minister Julie Anne Genter has announced a “feebate” policy which will target vehicles with the highest carbon emissions.
The Toyota LandCruiser will be $3000 more expensive, the Mitsubishi Triton will jump by $2500, the Ford Ranger will be $2750 more, and the Toyota Hilux will increase by $2000.
For new or near-new plug-in cars, battery electrics would receive an $8000 rebate, plug-in hybrids $6800 and hybrids $4800.
“The cars, utes and vans we use every day are also the fastest growing source of harmful climate pollution and account for nearly 70% of our transport emissions,” Genter says.
“Most Kiwis want to buy a car that’s good for the environment, but tell us the upfront cost and limited choice makes it a challenge.
“This is about making cleaner cars a realistic choice for more New Zealanders – by reducing the upfront cost of electric, hybrid and fuel efficient vehicles when sold in New Zealand for the first time.
“These changes would prevent more than five million tonnes of dangerous climate pollution going into our atmosphere and would make a major contribution to meeting New Zealand’s climate targets.
“The benefits of these policies would flow on into the second hand market as more fuel efficient hybrid and electric vehicles are sold on.
“These policies are expected to save the country more than $3.4 billion in fuel and result in fuel savings of more than $6,800 over the lifetime of an average vehicle,” Genter says.
However, National associate transport spokesperson Brett Hudson says the policy will “unfairly penalise people struggling with the cost of living”.
“Associate transport minister Julie Anne Genter has some big questions to answer about how much this scheme will impact farmers and tradies who don’t necessarily have the ability to shift into lower emission vehicles, given suitable options for their lifestyle just don’t exist.
“Hiking the cost of certain vehicles will also impose more costs on some families who still can’t afford to switch to an electric vehicle. The widely-driven Mazda CX-5 will jump by $1500 while the Hyundai Tucson will be an extra $2000.
“This consequence of this could be some people hanging onto older, less safe vehicles for longer than they should.
“Vehicle emissions are one of the biggest contributors outside of agriculture, so we need to work on reducing them. But doing so shouldn’t come at the expense of New Zealanders’ wellbeing by increasing the cost of living further.
“Moving to electric vehicles can be done through more positive initiatives rather than telling car owners what they can’t drive and slapping them with new taxes, which is all this Government knows how to do.
“The Government should incentivise rather than penalise Kiwi motorists,” Hudson says.
