New Zealand needs to accelerate
its shift to electric and hybrid fuelled vehicles to make
meaningful progress on climate change, says the Motor
Industry Association (MIA) and the Sustainable Business
Council (SBC).

The two organisations have welcomed
Transport Minister Simon Bridges’ support for increased
use of plug-in vehicles this week. In a meeting with MIA
yesterday the Minister signalled the Government is exploring
how to encourage more car manufacturers to bring electric
and hybrid electric vehicles into New Zealand.

However,
both the MIA and SBC believe the Government needs to focus
more on encouraging uptake of electric and hybrid
vehicles, particularly among business fleets, to build
strong demand in New Zealand.

The CEO of MIA, David
Crawford said: “We really want to work with Government to
support the transition to plug-in vehicles. We don’t think
the issue is at the distribution end – at this stage
it’s at the demand end, and that’s something the
Government can address through smart policies that support
businesses to switch their vehicle fleets to become more
sustainable.”

SBC Executive Director Penny Nelson said
that, right now, transport is this country’s biggest
opportunity for addressing climate change and achieving
ambitious emission reduction targets.

“We know that 48%
of New Zealand’s emissions come from agriculture and while
there is some exciting research underway, we are still years
off being able to make significant emissions reductions in
this area. Likewise in energy, our renewable generation
already sits at around 80%.

“Our biggest opportunities
in the short term will come from reducing emissions from
transport. Supporting the switch to electric and hybrid
vehicles is an important part of that,” she said.

MIA’s David Crawford said “New Zealand is unique in
that each year businesses purchase around 70% of new
vehicles. Only about 30% are bought by private purchasers.
With the right conditions – that support uptake of plug-in
vehicles – we can quickly shift the make-up of fleets
purchased by businesses.”

The two organisations, MIA and
SBC, are calling on the Government to:

* Create
a fringe benefit tax holiday for plug-in vehicles when they
are purchased by businesses

* Continue to exempt
electric vehicles from road user charges beyond 2020;
and

* Address residual vehicle values (the
market value of a vehicle at the end of its lease) by
adjusting depreciation rates for electric and hybrid
vehicles

Penny Nelson said: “We don’t want subsidies
for business vehicle fleets. But a range of short term
incentives could create significant change over relatively
short timeframes.”

“Plug-in vehicles are already
coming to New Zealand. What we need are incentives that
speed up the number of vehicles fleets that are hybrid
electric or
electric.”

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