Electric car owners get ‘free ride’
Electric vehicle owners are cruising past fuel taxes and embracing road improvements.
Of the 4946 registered electric vehicles (EVs) in the country, 3499 owners are based in Auckland and will receive a free pass when fuel taxes double dip into Auckland motorists’ pockets.
The Government has proposed a fuel tax increase of between 9 and
12 cents a litre alongside the Auckland Council’s 11.5 cent regional tax to fund a raft of new land transport plans focusing on road safety, rapid rail and major transport projects. This means petrol and diesel motorists will effectively pay an extra $10 to $15 each time they fill up from July.
It is expected the regional tax will collect about $170 million per year to help fix Auckland’s congested transport infrastructure.
Aucklander Silia Vakameilalo owns one of the country’s 650,242 registered petrol vehicles but often drives her work-owned EVs and said she believed everyone should pay taxes. ‘‘We are all users of the road so I don’t see why some people should have more of a benefit than others,’’ she said.
The previous Government’s
2016 Electric Vehicles Programme aimed to increase the number of electric vehicles in New Zealand to
64,000 by 2021.
New Zealand Transport Agency spokesman Darryl Walker said the Government hoped to encourage motorists to buy EVs.
The Government plan to make owning a EV desirable includes ‘‘exemption from road user charges for a period; allowing electric vehicles into special vehicle lanes on the state highway network and local roads; and reducing ACC levies for electric and hybrid vehicles’’. At the moment EV owners pay to charge their vehicles at ChargeNet stations and only have to pay GST and ACC taxes in their registration.
ChargeNet spokesman James Cozens said EVs were the future. ‘‘We have six stations in Auckland and 70 around the country. Charging at a ChargeNet charger generally costs $0.25 per kWh, plus $0.25 per minute, and the money goes towards the electricity cost and capital cost of the charger.’’
Some of ChargeNet’s partner stations are in free mode – Vector, with rapid charger technology manufactured and supplied by ABB, has no fees attached. Vector’s Richard Llewellyn said it had 20 public rapid charging stations in Auckland.
‘‘To date Vector hasn’t charged anyone to use the EV charging infrastructure it has built – although we have been consistent in reserving the right to potentially change this position as the EV market grows and evolves.’’
The Ministry of Transport said New Zealand was well placed to benefit from EVs and that it would help with climate change issues.
‘‘More than 80 per cent of electricity is generated from renewable sources and there is enough supply for widespread adoption of EVs.
‘‘Even if every light vehicle was electric, there is sufficient generation capacity to charge these provided the majority are charged at off-peak times.’’ It is hard to imagine sea levels rising and the seawaters creeping over city streets, but if you live in Wellington you don’t have to.
The city council has developed a virtual reality simulator, allowing users to travel anywhere in the city, stand on the street, and see the impact of rising sea levels.
You can stand in the shadow of Te Papa and watch as the whole area is swallowed by the ocean.
Or travel along Oriental Parade and watch the beach get washed away with only a 1-metre rise.
At 6 metres – the absolute worst-case scenario – you can watch the waters creep to the steps of the Beehive or flood the town of Makara.
The creators say it is the best way to turn something abstract and distant into hard reality.
Residents can see a simplified version at home, by visiting the council’s online simulator.
Wellington City Council innovation officer Sean Audain said it was much easier to show people than to explain the impact rising sea levels would have.
‘‘There’s a lot of science that shows us what’s going to happen to the oceans or the ice caps; there’s not much science showing what’s going to happen to cities.’’
Gaming technology was overlaid with spatial maps of the city to create an interactive environment.
The technology is so immersive, Audain said he had watched users hold their breath as the water came up around them.
‘‘We had one person who lived in the one of the buildings just across the road from Te Papa.
‘‘Their reaction was really interesting because they started to relate to what does it mean over my life time? Can I retire here?
‘‘It is a little bit sickening to stand in the water.’’
The user can choose rises of between 300mm and 6 metres – the expected minimum and maximum rises as a result of climate change.
Chief resilience officer Mike Mendonca said the city was facing some hard decisions in the future, including how to manage retreat or where to build flood defences.
‘‘This is the kind of tool that will help communicate to people why we need to make those decisions. We’re a long way from making those decisions, but there’s no denying the fact that at some time in the future we will have to make some hard calls.’’
The development of the program, which has multiple other components under development, took two years to construct.
The public can have a play on the VR headset at the upcoming Tech Week.