Matt Greenop: Blowing smoke rings

5:21 AM Saturday Nov 24, 2012

Photo / Thinkstock

Changes to emissions laws in New Zealand have been a long time coming. Campaigns to dob in smoke-spewing old diesel vans over an 0800 phone line were a novel idea - but certainly didn't cut it.

Now we're going to have to prove on arrival that new and used imports are not toxic. It brings us in line with the Aussies, who will continue to lower C02 allowances as time ticks on.

We're sitting on a very old fleet in this country - I'm often met with ridicule from overseas motoring writers when they hear our average car is about 13.5 years old. They carry on like we're a third world nation driving rickety old A30s, but the message does ring true. We're bloody miles behind, and we need to catch up.

Meeting European emissions standards is vitally important, and as we're staring down the barrel of C02 limits on new cars in the next few years and the EU keeps on sharpening its already rather pointy pencil, it'll just get harder to catch up.

Some say this will add 1 per cent to the price of a used import. I'd be quite happy not choking to death on the exhaust gases from my own car. This will of course impact on modified car fans; ripping a cat out of an exhuast is not going to help pass WoF muster. Probably time to swap that flame-spitting 2JZ turbo monster for a nice, green, Euro5 diesel.

The diesel revolution in Europe is a direct result of tough legislation around emissions, which has forced technological advances in building diesel engines.

It's likely that the only thing stopping a similar takeover of the passenger car market is that we're forced to pay evil Road User Charges.

These engines are extremely clean burning now - a far cry from the badly-tuned and unloved machines that fell foul of that 0800 campaign.

What do you think about changes to our emisson rules - are they going to be enough? Have your say

By Matt Greenop

LinksFahren (Hamilton) | 09:44AM Monday, 26 Nov 2012

As a superannuitant trying to keep a 25 year old Ford running in NZ, I was quite anxious when I read that anything pre-1997 won't be allowed into Paris because stricter emission rules came into effect then. I'd love a more modern car, but there's always some problem that swallows up the savings. However, I certainly don't want a new car as there are just too many ridiculous new gizmos being fitted to them.

Andre Terzaghi () | 09:44AM Monday, 26 Nov 2012

The bigger problem is that most of the $400 plus annual registration for a diesel is ACC levy. Why on earth is owning a diesel powered car have so much of a risk of injury that ACC needs to collect such a huge fee? Ideally the ACC levy should be entirely on the fuel so that drivers pay roughly in proportion to their risk of injury, but if that particular hidden subsidy for farmers and some businesses is too hard to get rid of, at least bundle the ACC levy into the Road User Charges. Same with petrol too, put all the ACC levy on petrol, instead of around half of it coming from registration.

Jacknz (New Zealand) | 09:45AM Monday, 26 Nov 2012

Great, I'd love a nice new, clean diesel, but who the hell can afford to tie up a considerable sum of money into some thing that depreciates as rapidly as a car? unfortunately, a new vehicle is not part of my employment contract, and I certainly will not put my own hard earned cash into one, for me, the minimum spend on a car is the only way to go.