A rash of petrol-friendly law changes are helping to make EVs look less and less attractive to car buyers, writes Catherine McGregor in this excerpt from The Bulletin, The Spinoff’s morning news round-up. To receive The Bulletin in full each weekday, sign up here.
RIP Auckland regional fuel tax, 2018-2024
After six years in existence, it’s goodbye to the Auckland regional fuel tax (RFT). Prime minister Christopher Luxon and transport minister Simeon Brown confirmed it’s going the way of so many other Labour government policies – straight into the trash. The pair said the RFT was not funding projects aligned with the government’s and mayor Wayne Brown’s transport priorities, and so the RFT is set to be repealed by June 30. Luxon highlighted the financial relief it would provide to Aucklanders, emphasising the disproportionate impact of the tax on lower-income households and less fuel-efficient vehicle owners. Removing the tax will mean an Auckland owner of a Toyota Hilux “will save around $9.20 every time they fill up, while a Toyota Corolla driver will save around $5.75,” said Luxon. “Yup,” wrote the Herald’s Chris Keall on Twitter/X, “in some bright, shining world where 100% of the saving is passed on.”
Wayne Brown warns Auckland transport projects under threat
Given it was part of the transport policy National ran on last year, the end of the RFT was far from unexpected. Still Wayne Brown sounded genuinely pained when he warned what it will do to the council’s bottom line. Auckland residents should steel themselves for rates hikes, transport project cancellations, or both, he said. “Every Aucklander agrees that our transport system is a mess and it’s going to cost a lot of money to fix. That money must come from somewhere,” he said. “Unfortunately, the government has just made it a lot harder for us.” RFT-funded projects facing the chop include planned improvements to major roads such as Glenvar Road and Lake Road on the North Shore; the proposed Airport-Botany Busway; and the final, Pakūranga to Botany Town Centre stretch of the Eastern Busway, on which work is already underway.
EV sales dropping like a stone
As the cost of running some petrol vehicles goes down thanks to the cancellation of both the RFT and the “ute tax”, the appeal of electric vehicles is beginning to wane. EV sales have sharply declined since the government ended the Clean Car Discount at the start of the year, with only one in 26 new vehicles purchased in January being electric. It marks a significant drop from the one in four ratio seen in 2023, reports Newsroom’s Marc Daalder in an article headlined “EV sales plummet after clean car discount scrapped”. Just three months ago, the opposite was true. “Petrol car sales plummet as EV sales soar”, trumpeted BusinessDesk in November. The confirmation that EVs and PHEVs will need to pay road-user charges from April 1 is also likely to have contributed to the change of sentiment among new car buyers.
Why small cars are hit hardest by the Clean Car Standard
As for the Clean Car Discount’s cousin, the Clean Car Standard (CCS), that’s still with us, for now at least. Simeon Brown says he’s going to review the standard, which applies to ICE (internal combustion engine) imports into New Zealand. Driven NZ has a case study showing why the CCS is so loathed by some importers. Lightweight cars like those in the Suzuki range get hit disproportionately hard, explains reporter David Linklater. The Swift GL is “one of the most thrifty petrol cars you can buy”, but importers must pay a penalty because it’s slightly over the emission standard for cars under 1200kg. That fee is currently only a few hundred dollars for each car, but the standard – and penalties – are set to rise dramatically next year, bringing the fee up to $1957, with more increases the year after. “So ultimately, retail prices might have to rise. A lot.” The budget car brand currently has no EVs in its range, which would soften the impact of the CCS, and is not expected to launch its first until 2025.
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