I’m curious to know what others think of this.
I’m personally for keeping it as I see the benefit coming in a few years having many more EV’s available in the second hand market. Currently it’s pretty much dominated by mainly Nissan Leaf’s at the lower end of the secondhand market.
I know of a few people as well who have bought EV/Hybrids recently that would not have even considered going for EV’s or even hybrids without the rebate.
I predict a big increase in the number of electric and hybrid cars sold in the next few months…
I like the discount, I think we need to encourage vehicles with lower emissions and NZ is a great place to do so since we have 80%+ of power from renewable sources (and if you charge overnight it’s higher).
I don’t mind other approaches. But so far National’s policies don’t really add up. Ok, remove this incentive, but how will you meet the targets?
Hmm, yeah makes you start thinking. We’ve been thinking that our next cat will be an electric car - but we’ve put it off for now as we don’t really drive a lot at the moment, and we’ve had a lot of expenses recently with a house and all that.
Maybe we should bring it forward…maybe.
We’ve been thinking that our next cat will be an electric car
I would suggest reconsidering. EVs make terrible cats.
Hmmm now that you mention it… an electric cat might be a bit less of a commitment (currently weighing up whether we are likely to explore working overseas in the coming years or not before deciding whether or not to get a cat).
Probably need to understand the policy a bit better. If you get in line for a car but there’s a waiting list from the sudden demand, if you don’t get it until after they remove the policy do you end up missing out? It’s a bit of a gamble.
We have a leaf, I’ve been hoping to get an electric long-distance car as well but was hoping to wait a year or two until ranges get better.
My other question is: are they going to extend the RUC exemption for EVs? Because if they don’t, that will make electric cars much less attractive from a financial angle.Currently the RUC exemption is only until March next year, but it gets extended basically every year for another year. National might not, though.
We just got our Leaf this week, now just waiting on the rebate to be processed. The plan is to replace our older hybrid with a longer range EV in the next five years, once more of them show up second hand.
You’re right about the uncertainty, I wouldn’t be putting my name down on a waitlisted EV right now if my purchase was depending on receiving the rebate. I do think some form of RUC is fair for EVs, but yeah making it less attractive to own a low emission vehicle combined with removing the rebate at the same time seems short sighted.
Probably need to understand the policy a bit better. If you get in line for a car but there’s a waiting list from the sudden demand, if you don’t get it until after they remove the policy do you end up missing out? It’s a bit of a gamble.
Yeah, I’m sure there will be a sunset period, but it’ll most likely only apply to people who have actually bought a car (i.e. it’s been registered in their name). If it’s on a boat, it won’t count.
They will probably give people a bit of lead time after the announcement though (ideally a couple of months at least). Although given it seems to be mostly ideological, maybe they won’t, and sales will drop off a cliff as soon as they confirm it’s ending.
Hmm those are some great points. I really didn’t factor in the whole RUC part of it. Hmmm… makes you think a bit. I recently saw the new Prius online and was wondering what they would cost in NZ because they look pretty good - unfortunately they’re not bringing them here :(
Nats seem fairly committed to ending the RUC exemption as well.
I think given the popularity of PHEVs, they really need to reconsider the whole scheme, but I also doubt that much thought will be put into it
I think the focus on cars is a bigger problem than what energy source they use. EVs are taking over anyway, there is no standing in the way of that.
If we want to reduce emissions (pollution isn’t much of a problem in windswept NZ) then we need to focus on more efficient modes of transport and lifestyles. Not more cars.
We will still be able to import used EVs from Japan, if converting our domestic fleet is a goal.
I agree that our cities and towns are too car centric, it seems very unlikely that we will get sweeping changes to our public transportation or redesigning of cities to be more pedestrian/bike friendly any time soon. The general public seems to be against any large changes to the current way of life and neither major party seems brave enough to do it.
While personal zero emission vehicles contribute a tiny fraction to lowering our emissions, I think incentivizing their uptake is still a good idea. I’m a fan of the Japanese Kaizen concept of incremental continuous improvement that involves everyone. Working on lowering emissions on all fronts is ideal, but as always with politics they can only do so much at a time without upsetting voters.
I think the focus on cars is a bigger problem than what energy source they use. EVs are taking over anyway, there is no standing in the way of that.
If there was an alternative that isn’t likely to take multiple generations to implement, I would agree, but that is not the case?
If we want to reduce emissions (pollution isn’t much of a problem in windswept NZ) then we need to focus on more efficient modes of transport and lifestyles. Not more cars.
I suspect your definition of pollution doesn’t match what most consider it to be. NZ is a terrible polluter of the environment, which includes green house gases (transport and agriculture) and the effects that has on climate change? I don’t think the idea is to have more cars, but to replace existing polluting cars with more environmentally friendly EV’s?
Sure, pollution in that narrow sense is about direct health effects, and is kind of a side issue. What I’ve noticed is that some critics of this move to EVs see things in a different light. Take car designers Gordon Murray and Adrian Newey, both scathing about the way this is playing out. What we are getting to replace our ICE vehicles is not a new wave of efficient EVs. Everyone is gravitating to SUV EVs which are hideoisly inefficient. It’s like the McMansion-isation of personal transport.
IF the goal is to reduce total emissions we are going about it the wrong way. We should be tax-encouraging K-cars (EV) and other micro-transport options. Instead it has turned into another consumerism feeding frenzy. We are ending up with more, not less.
Everyone is gravitating to SUV EVs which are hideoisly inefficient. It’s like the McMansion-isation of personal transport.
I’ve heard this more than once recently - what a lot of rot. A medium size electric SUV is no more inefficient than a medium size electric car. It may carry a little more weight around and have a little more wind resistance, so may require/use a little more stored electricity, but not much. If the owner actually needs the extra space or clearance of an SUV (I do, but diesel at the moment not yet electric, mostly due to range issues), then I don’t see anything wrong with that.
However, I do agree when it comes to those who buy and drive SUV/Utes etc., just for the Wank factor - I always suspect it is something to do with small penis syndrome ;)
Everyone is gravitating to SUV EVs which are hideoisly inefficient. It’s like the McMansion-isation of personal transport.
That’s because everyone prefers SUVs period. Ask any car dealer how the sedans and the wagons are selling. Hell some manufacturers have even stopped selling them. For example Honda no longer sells Accords in NZ and they don’t even make a wagon anymore. Go look at the toyota web site and you’ll see no mention of prius.
Completely nuts to get rid of it! Without incentives like this, most will just continue on as normal, which will result in a very prolonged, if ever, move away from high polluting fossil fuel vehicles.
Some other subjects are simply crazy too.
Tell me you’re beholden to big oil without telling me you’re beholden to big oil.
My question is whether this is a cost effective way of reducing our emissions, especially considering EVs still have an environmental impact in their manufacture.
I’d be happy to see a higher carbon levy on fossil fuels, for example, which would also be an incentive to move towards renewable liquid fuels for applications where electric isn’t practical.
