Kiwis have an added incentive to buy a Nissan Leaf. Photo / Getty Images
Kiwis have an added incentive to buy a Nissan Leaf. Photo / Getty Images
Looking for a new car? Ready to consider an electric vehicle and take advantage of the Government's new clean car feebate scheme?
Our motoring experts at Driven and the Herald's data team has taken the guesswork out of the new subsidy for EVs which is set to launch in July.
By searching the make and model of your car, you can now discover the EV rebate (or higher fee for petrol models) that applies to specific vehicles once the new rules come into effect.
From July-December 2021, buyers of electric vehicles (those that can be recharged with a plug) costing under $80,000 will receive rebates. This applies to both Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) that run purely on battery power, or Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) that also have a petrol or diesel engine. Note that PHEVs must have an external plug to qualify for the 2021 scheme.
In 2022, subject to legislation being passed, the feebate scheme opens up to all vehicles. Those of emissions under 146g/km will receive rebates, while those over 192g/km will incur fees. There's also a "zero band" between 147-191g/km where vehicles are unaffected by the programme.
Under the scheme, fans of the Hilux could face a penalty of up $5175 while Nissan Leaf drivers could qualify for a feebate of $8625.
It only applies to new or used-import vehicles being registered in NZ for the first time under a value of $80,000.
The clean car calculator features a catalogue of the most popular vehicles owned by New Zealand drivers.
A new BMW i3 is eligible for a clean car feebate of $8625.
Given that the rules are still subject to change, the data is supplied for reference only at this stage.
The announcement of the feebate scheme and penalties for certain vehicles has already sparked fierce debate across the political divide.
In announcing the scheme, Transport Minister Michael Wood said the plan was to put the handbrake on gas-guzzling vehicles making their way to the country.
"If we don't move forward with policies like the Clean Car Standard and the Clean Car Discount, New Zealand will become a dumping ground for the world's dirtiest vehicles," Wood said.
"At the moment we have one of the dirtiest fleets coming into our country because of the lack of standard to date - we are resolving that."
National Party transport spokesman Michael Woodhouse responded by calling it as particularly burdensome to rural New Zealand.
"We welcome incentives, but my concern is that so many New Zealanders, tradies, large families, people in rural and remote areas are going to be asked to pay for this, but not actually have the choice to benefit from it," Woodhouse said.
"In essence, it is a reverse Robin Hood system, they are taking from the poor to give to the rich and that's just not right."
There are also growing concerns about the toxic waste caused by Electric Vehicle batteries, both here and abroad.
Gavin Harper, a fellow at the Faraday Institution and researcher at the University of Birmingham, calculates that there will be about 8m tonnes of waste batteries by 2040, roughly 1.3 times the mass of the Great Pyramid of Giza.
There have also been questions asked about the mining of the raw materials necessary to develop the batteries.
Amnesty International secretary general Kumi Naidoo recently noted that human rights abuses, including child labour, in the extraction of minerals, like cobalt, used to make the batteries that power electric vehicles is undermining ethical claims about the cars.
"Without radical changes, the batteries which power green vehicles will continue to be tainted by human rights abuses," Naidoo is quoted in an article on the World Economic Forum website.
With the projected growth in sales of electric vehicles, the focus on these issues will only become sharper in the coming years.
