The begin of this month introduced with it the total implementation of the governments Clean Car Scheme which sees rebates given for electrical and plug-in hybrid automobiles, funded by charges for top emitting automobiles.
The rebate a part of the scheme was launched in July final yr and the federal government celebrated final week by saying that already 12,000 rebates had been authorised.
Transport Minister Michael Wood introduced at the moment that the Clean Car rebate scheme has exceeded expectations by already reaching 12,000 authorised rebates.
“The Clean Car Discount scheme is off to an electric start, helping to get more Kiwis behind the wheel of cheaper electric vehicles,” Michael Wood stated.
The Clean Car rebate supplies a most of $8,625 for low and 0 emission new and used imports.
“The climate emergency we face is a challenge we cannot postpone, and I’m excited and encouraged to see Kiwis making the most of the Clean Car rebate to help play an active role in cutting emissions and reaching our climate targets.
“Today’s milestone means that electric and hybrids vehicles now make up around 1 percent of Aotearoa’s light-vehicle fleet. This is a promising start, but we need to keep building on this momentum. As demand for electric and hybrid vehicles grows worldwide, Aotearoa needs to be an active participant in this market, and avoid being in a position where we are the dumping ground for high-emitting vehicles from other countries moving ahead in the decarbonisation of their fleet.
You can certainly see a big jump in monthly EV sales from July on the stats on the Ministry of Transport’s tracker. In total they say there are now 38,000 EVs in the fleet meaning the EV fleet grew by nearly half in just eight months.
And that should only grow further as from the start of the month the fee part has kicked in. It also saw the rebate scheme expanded to a wider range of vehicles.
The government should have introduced the fee at the same time as the rebate back in July but they didn’t and as predicted, this saw a rush on large high-emitting vehicles.
New car buyers have rushed to get in ahead of the introduction of Clean Car Programme fees on higher-emission vehicles on the 1st of April, with 21,044 new passenger vehicles being registered in March, the highest monthly registrations ever recorded in New Zealand.
Motor Industry Association Chief Executive David Crawford says that while an increase in registrations was anticipated in the lead up to the Clean Car Programme fees, the March 2022 figures are a massive 4,374 units over the previous strongest in October 2018, when 16,607 units were registered.
As expected sales were dominated by the largest ever monthly registrations for light commercial vehicles of 9841 units as buyers rushed to avoid fees for high CO2 emitting vehicles that began on 1 April.
Overall registrations of 21,044 were up a huge 35.8 per cent (5546 units) on March 2021. Year to date the market is up 12.5 per cent (5230 units) compared to the first three months of 2021.
The top three models for March were all utes, with the Mitsubishi Triton (2266 units) taking the lead, followed by the Ford Ranger (1933 units) and the Toyota Hilux in third place (1580 units).
While the three biggest sellers were all about avoiding a fee, of note was the fourth place vehicle for the month, the Tesla Model 3 on 949 units, proving that not every new vehicle buyer was getting in quick to avoid fees.
While the motor industry all knew this bump would happen, I suspect the chances are high that over the next year or so we them forget this and complaining that their sales volumes have dropped.
The rebate scheme hasn’t been all that smooth either.
The Transport Agency, Waka Kotahi, has admitted there are inaccuracies in its feebate system after car dealers reported some car buyers were being asked to pay fees of thousands of dollars on cars that should be attracting rebates.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said he was seeking assurances from Waka Kotahi that those were “isolated cases and that there is a plan to remedy the problem”.
“With any new large scale programme we can expect some teething issues,” he stated.
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But Vehicles Importers Association chief govt David Vincent stated the motorcar register that recorded the emissions of various automobiles was incomplete and in some instances inaccurate, generally additionally “defaulting” to use a price when rebates had been due.
As a outcome, some automotive consumers had been incorrectly being instructed to pay hundreds of {dollars} in charges on decrease emission automobiles together with hybrids.
Greig Epps, technique supervisor of the Motor Trade Association (MTA), stated that in some instances, info on whether or not a price or rebate was due had jumped round “every other day”, leaving automotive sellers not sure what they need to inform clients.
That appears a fairly poor efficiency from Waka Kotahi.
But general the largest drawback with the scheme is that it’s just for vehicles, as whereas electrical automobiles do assist deal with emissions, they don’t do something to assist deal with our different massive challenges reminiscent of lowering congestion or bettering security outcomes.
The authorities ought to at the least broaden the scheme, or create a separate one, to supply rebates on e-bikes. E-bikes aren’t low cost however are already much more reasonably priced than electrical vehicles and lots of e-bike customers discover they can substitute many, if not all of their automotive journeys with them. They additionally take pleasure in requiring far fewer supplies to construct and wish even much less electrical energy to run.
Skyrocketing petrol costs are driving commuters in the direction of ebikes in report numbers and making the change may save hundreds of {dollars} a yr.
Consumer NZ’s newest Sentiment Tracker discovered that, in addition to adjusting their driving habits or becoming a member of a carpool to rein in climbing prices, a 3rd of respondents had been additionally contemplating switching to a hybrid or electrical car.
But that momentum has been constructing for some time, with curiosity in electrical vehicles and bicycles rising considerably over the past decade.
Michael Tritt, chief govt of ebike maker and retailer Electrify NZ, stated Customs import figures and different knowledge confirmed ebike imports had skyrocketed from about 2000 in 2014 to 50,000 in 2020.
In line with that development, Electrify NZ doubled its gross sales within the 2021 monetary yr, Tritt stated.
An ebike commuter himself, Tritt stated it price him 20 cents to cost his bike for 100 kilometres of biking every week.
“The difference between that and 100km worth of petrol right now is huge, without taking into account the other costs that come with car ownership including registration, WOF, insurance, servicing and parking.”
Ebike riders had been inspired to service their bikes each six months however from a price perspective, making the transition from a automotive to an electric-assisted pedal energy made sense, Tritt stated.
If the federal government had been to increase the rebate scheme it may assist carry the price of e-bikes down additional, doubtlessly even making them a viable possibility for decrease earnings households, one thing electrical vehicles received’t be. It’s value noting that for the $5.6 billion value distinction between floor and tunnelled mild rail, the federal government may purchase everybody in Auckland an e-bike and nonetheless doubtless have cash left over. Alternatively, they might additionally give everybody within the nation a $1000+ subsidy on them
The largest problem to an e-bike subsidy is we simply don’t have sufficient protected cycle route, however then if everybody has them there’ll be loads of street area to reallocate.