Only one minister yet to switch to EV
Ardern says all must opt out of petrol and diesel — no exceptions
All but one Government minister’s self-drive car is now electric after an edict from the Prime Minister. But not all ministers were pleased, the Herald understands.
Two years ago just over half the 26 vehicles they drove — rather than when they were chauffeur-driven — were fully electric or plug-in hybrid.
The Herald understands Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said they must all opt for electric vehicles, no exceptions, including those in some of the most remote parts of the country with limited charging options, such as the West Coast’s Damien O’Connor and Kelvin Davis in Te Tai Tokerau.
Department of Internal Affairs figures show most have come on board, with just one still driving a petrol or diesel vehicle. The rest include 22 fully electric and three partially electric vehicles.
Meanwhile, none of the five Crown vans, which Ardern chooses to use, is electric. Nor are the 20 Crown-plated sedans — all BMW 7 series.
An Internal Affairs spokesperson said the issue with converting those vehicles to electric versions was meeting the range requirements.
The Crown fleet is comprised of chauffeur-driven vehicles as well as self-drive vehicles for ministers and former Prime Ministers.
Overall, 60 per cent of 73 vehicles in the ministerial Crown fleet are classed as EVs — up from 29 per cent in 2019.
They include nine Crown SUVs that are electric, made up of six Audi EVs and three BMW plug-in hybrids.
Four other “Class 5” vehicles are listed as “high security/specialist” in the Crown fleet, which Internal Affairs excludes from its EV calculations.
The EVs include 30 that are fully electric, and 14 plug-in hybrids.
Ex-Prime Ministers are also entitled to a self-drive vehicle. These include three non-electric, fully electric and three partially electric vehicles.
EV self-drive options for ministers and former PMs include the Hyundai Kona EV, Hyundai Ioniq EV, MG ZS EV, Nissan Leaf EV, and Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV.
“The Department is in the process of transitioning all entitled users to either a PHEV or BEV model,” a spokesperson said.
“We are taking a phased approach to replacing vehicles in the Crown fleet so we can continually improve the fleet’s EV/emissions profile and achieve our goal of a fully electric Crown fleet by 2025/26.”
The figures come as the Government launches a new push to encourage uptake of EVs by the public, part of plans to greatly reduce still-rising greenhouse gas emissions and meet targets and commitments in line with Climate Change Commission advice.
In a feebate scheme announced on Sunday, drivers who buy new cars from July 1 will be able to get taxpayerfunded rebates of almost $8700 for a new electric or plug-in hybrid car, and about $3500 for used cars.
These would be funded by fees based on emissions levels applied to new petrol cars up to $5875 and up to $2875 for imported used cars.
There will be no exemption for government agencies under the feebates scheme. They will also be able to claim rebates.
As of May 7 this year, there were 191 battery electric vehicles and 90 plugin hybrid electric vehicles in the entire government fleet of just under 15,000, making up 1.9 per cent.
There are a further 2000 or so fuel hybrid vehicles, however these are not classed as electric under the Clean Car Programme.
There are about 27,000 electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in the country, less than 1 per cent of more than 4 million vehicles.