A New Zealand electric vehicle advocate group wants the next Government to introduce 250,000 by 2025 in pursuit of the climate change targets set by the Zero Carbon Act.

Not-for-profit group Drive Electric has today launched five key policy platforms for the next Government to act on in a bid to “dramatically increase the number of electric vehicles (cars, buses, trucks, bikes and scooters) on the roads within five years.

New Zealand must reduce emissions by around 60 per cent by 2030 to stay within 1.5 degrees of warming, the target contained in the Zero Carbon Act.

Drive Electric wrote to all politicians at the end of last week, ahead of the election, asking them to put it on the policy and election campaign agenda. 

Drive Electric says road transport is the second largest source of emissions in New Zealand.

The group wants the Government to develop a bi-partisan pathway for the transport sector to deliver New Zealand’s climate change objectives; encourage businesses to purchase EVs for their fleets; Government fleets to demonstrate leadership on EV use; make New Zealand a globally attractive market for EVs; and encourage New Zealanders to move to EVs.

Drive Electric chairman, Mark Gilbert, said our light fleet constitutes “more than 90 per cent of the travel on New Zealand roads”. 

“Therefore, e-mobility is an essential part of our transport future, and New Zealand is ideally suited given our high proportion of renewable energy. We need a bi-partisan target and pathway to create certainty and guide the investment in e-mobility,” said Gilbert.

“It is fair to New Zealanders to be upfront about the changes that are happening when it comes to cars. For many people a car is their first or second biggest asset. With emissions targets that need to be met, and automotive technology shifting towards emissions-free, the time is now to plan for a future New Zealand that embraces e-mobility.

“There are many advantages to this, New Zealand will be less reliant on foreign oil, there will be a reduction of air pollution and over time families will save money spent on fuel and operating costs of vehicles. We will also avoid becoming a dumping ground for secondhand fossil fuel vehicles, as other countries move towards emissions-free vehicles.”

Dr Paul Winton, founder of the climate action group 1.5 Project says reaching 250,000 EVs in the fleet by 2025 is a realistic prospect.

“The transition for New Zealand will be easier than when Norway started 10 years ago. EVs are becoming less expensive and more capable. By 2025 there will be no clear reason for consumers or businesses not to buy EVs,” he said.

“To buy a petrol or diesel vehicle in 2025, would be to buy a car that is more expensive at the outset, more expensive to run and repair, has a shorter lifespan, performs worse, with higher emissions.”

To date in 2020, the Tesla Model 3 is the top selling new EV in New Zealand with 232 registrations, followed by Hyundai’s Kona (119). Last year the top selling new EV was the Model 3 (657), the Kona was second with 395 registrations for a total of 1881EVs sold in 2019.