Waka Kotahi has been given six weeks to complete the work required to get the government’s Clean Car plans activated, following it passing in parliament last night.
The Labour-Greens block beat out the opposing National and ACT parties in the final vote.
Amendments from National Transport spokesperson Simeon Brown to delay the plan, which required the inclusion of the fees in pricing and provide exemptions to working vehicles was also rejected.
This means the ‘Discount’ component, which sees low-emitting vehicles given a rebate, and higher emitting vehicles penalised, needs to be in place by April 1 – with industry yet to receive the regulations behind it.
Recording for the Clean Car Standard also begins from that date.
In spite of heavy criticism transport minister Michael Wood stands by the plans.
“Climate change is a challenge we cannot postpone and we are proud to support New Zealanders to play their part in keeping our country clean and green,” Wood says.
“We’ve made a good start on supporting New Zealanders to move to an electric or hybrid vehicle, with the Clean Car Discount driving electric car registrations beyond projections to over 10,000 since July 2021, more than the total number ever registered under the entirety of the last government. Over 000 were eligible for the discount.
“This legislation takes us further by expanding the discount to include new and used imported hybrids and other low emission vehicles from 1 April 2022, expected to prevent a further five million tonnes of emissions.
“The passing of the Clean Vehicles legislation delivers on our 2020 election commitment to introduce a Clean Car Import Standard, which offers Kiwis greater access to low and zero emissions vehicles.
“The new passenger vehicle segment has already achieved the Standard’s 2023 target, a year ahead of schedule. With the rest of the world moving to phase out petrol vehicles, we have kept our ambitious targets to stop us becoming a dumping ground for the world’s dirtiest cars.
“I want to thank the industry for their constructive engagement which has led to a number of tweaks to improve the legislation, and we welcome the support from Tesla, Toyota, and Suzuki, among others,” Wood says.
