Changes have been made to the previous policy, or “feebate”' scheme, revealed last year, then scuppered by New Zealand First.
“Only cars costing under $80,000 will be eligible for the discount scheme and we will also ensure that only the most safe vehicles are eligible for the scheme.”
The rebates will be available from July 1 this year for electric and plug-in hybrids.
The Government is also setting up an EV sector leadership group to help to increase the uptake of low-emissions vehicles.
The Government said it would cost up to $5175 more to buy a new high-emission car and up to $2875 more for a used import like a Ford Ranger or a Toyota Hilux.
From next year some petrol and diesel cars with low emissions will also be eligible for a smaller rebate — such as Suzuki Swift or Honda Jazz — depending on their CO2 emissions.
Wood said overall, eight out of the 10 most commonly purchased cars in New Zealand would either be unaffected or eliglible for a rebate.
Owning an electric vehicle had significant benefits, he said.
“Charging your EV at home off-peak is like buying petrol at around about 40 cents a litre, depending on your electricity retailer.
“And battery EV motors have so few moving parts that there is less to maintain and less to go wrong.”
Under the Government's new clean car scheme there will also be fast EV chargers every 75 kilometres along most state highways and car retailers will need to display emissions information.
Shaw said the last time there was carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in the concentrations present today there were palm trees in Antarctica.That indicated how urgent it was to deal with emissions.
“Much of that has come from our transport fleet, and our transport emissions as a country have been the most rapidly growing of any sector in the economy. So dealing with the energy that we use to get around within our cities and between our cities is the most urgent of all our climate change challenges.”
The Climate Change Commission had also laid down the challenge to arrest emissions, he said.
