Government offers

People buying new electric vehicles (EVS) will be eligible for a discount of up to $8625 from next month in a Government initiative to get more people into cleaner cars, reviving a plan from last term that was blocked by NZ First.

Cars worth up to $80,000 are eligible for the discount, meaning at least one model of Tesla is eligible as well as more popular EVS like the Nissan Leaf.

The discounts are not just for new imported EVS. People purchasing used import EVS, new or used imported plug-in hybrids, as well as ordinary internalcombustion vehicles that pollute less, will also be eligible for discounts depending on their emissions profile.

The discounts for these cars vary depending on their emissions but a new Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid would get a discount of $5750.

The Government will pay for the discounts by putting a fee on emitting vehicles – meaning the scheme does not end up costing the Crown. The fees go up to $5175 for a new import or $2875 for a used import. The charges could also be relatively small – the Mitsubishi ASX would incur a fee of $530.

The scheme, called the Clean Car Discount, was unveiled by Transport Minister Michael Wood and Climate Change Minister James Shaw yesterday. It will work alongside another policy, the Clean Car Standard, which incentivises importers to bring cleaner cars to New Zealand.

Both policies are largely the same as two schemes unveiled by the previous Government which were blocked by NZ First.

Shaw paid tribute to the work of his Green Party colleague, Julie Anne Genter, who was in charge of the scheme last term.

Wood said that the discounts would help New Zealand catch up with the rest of the world in its