Environmental awareness and government-backed subsidies have contributed to the spike, while Australian purchases remain stuck in the slow lane
Photograph: MIchael Craig/APPhotograph: MIchael Craig/APIncreased awareness of the climate crisis, soaring petrol prices and a government rebate scheme bolstered sales of electric vehicles into record highs in December, analysts say – with uptake now far outstripping that of neighbouring Australia.
The government scheme has been so popular that it has paid out double the amount in rebates that it has collected in fees, leading opposition parties to decry it as unsustainable. In 2022, 16,223 new purely electric vehicles were registered in New Zealand, compared to 6,897 in 2021. For the whole of 2022, battery-electric vehicles made up about 15% of new light vehicle sales in New Zealand. In Australia, which does not have a federal subsidy scheme, 3.39% of new cars were electric last year.
Electric and hybrid cars make up a fraction of New Zealand’s overall car fleet, and the rebate scheme is a good start but not the entire solution to the country’s transport woes, one analyst said.
Malaysia Latest News, Malaysia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Australia doesn’t have the ‘infrastructure’ for electric carsThe Daily Telegraph’s Warren Brown says Australia doesn’t have the infrastructure for electric cars. “Once you get off the Hume Highway... into a rural town, they may have one charger, and if that charger is broken, if it's out of order,” Mr Brown told Commentator Steve Price. 'I don't know what you're going to do. “In Australia, we have … huge distances to cover, and electric cars don’t like that - they're okay in the city.”
Read more »
Electric cars ‘work well in the city’The Daily Telegraph’s Warren Brown says electric cars “work well in the city”. “They don’t like long-distance, high-speed motoring, but they work well with stop-start, which is just the opposite to an internal combustion engine,” Mr Brown told Commentator Steve Price. “So, they actually kind of work quite well in the city.”
Read more »
Electric cars will ‘damage’ tourism in regional AustraliaThe Daily Telegraph’s Warren Brown says the government hasn’t 'thought' at all about electric cars in regional Australia. 'Tourism in regional rural Australia will just vanish because no one will be game enough to take an electric vehicle out there,” Mr Brown told Commentator Steve Price.
Read more »
Expanding electric vehicle charging network requires more government funding, advocates say‘It covers most of Australia but lots of locations only have one or two chargers,’ BP Pulse boss says, as others call for greater public spending to reduce queues
Read more »
Electric Corvette gives hope to Carbon RevolutionGM is using the ASX-listed company’s lightweight wheels on its first electrified Corvette, but there are wobbles in a race for funding.
Read more »
‘Demand is outstripping supply’ for electric charging stationsTritium Chief Executive Jane Hunter says “demand is outstripping supply” when it comes to the production of charging stations for electric vehicles. “For us and our competitors, you’ll find that we’re almost sold out for production lines in 2023,” Ms Hunter told Sky News Business Reporter Edward Boyd. “We have a record back of 159 million - that’s US dollars.”
Read more »