Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Government drives change to e-cars

By John Maslin
Whanganui Chronicle·
9 May, 2016 08:46 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

INCENTIVES: Oslo taxi driver Trond Gustav Somme drives an all-electric Tesla, and he says it's ideal for the job.

INCENTIVES: Oslo taxi driver Trond Gustav Somme drives an all-electric Tesla, and he says it's ideal for the job.

Electric cars are being touted as the way of the motoring future and last week the Government made moves to get Kiwis into them.

In an interview with the Chronicle before last week's announcement, Transport Minister Simon Bridges said he was convinced electric vehicles - EVs or e-cars - were the way of the future.

Mr Bridges has made no secret of his preference for EVs as the vehicles for New Zealand roads and told the Chronicle that at some stage there would be a government package in place to "nudge" people into EVs.

"I'd hope to be able to make an announcement on something sooner rather than later."

In fact the announcement came last week with the Government outlining a bold package aimed at getting more motorists behind the wheels of EVs.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Obviously there's a real buzz around electric vehicles at the moment. Look at the Tesla cars. They've poured billions into developing a fully electric vehicle before they've even built them."

He said electric vehicles offered "remarkable" advantages over petrol especially since they can be refuelled from renewable energy sources such as hydro-electricity.

"They will have a significant effect in our country because they can tap into a home-grown energy source from our own electricity supply," he said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But if people go electric, and they don't need to use petrol, it will have a significant impact on fuel tax. So how long before the Government starts looking for alternative sources of revenue from those using EVs?

The minister said there was no question of the Government introducing specific road user charges for EVs at this stage. In fact they will remain exempt from any sort of special tax until at least 2020. But that's only four years from now.

"This is new technology and we want to encourage it because it will transition our country into a lower carbon economy. And we've got to remember that at this stage EVs are generally more expensive to buy than other motor vehicles so every little bit helps."

He said the beauty of EVs was that they could comfortably cover the sort of daily Kiwi commute of 20km to 30km.

"We've seen a rapid growth in public charging stations go up around the country. There's been something like 140 new ones in the last few months. And I'm expecting an upward curve in technology will see a corresponding downward curve in EV prices. I think it's very much a matter of watch this space."

At the moment there are more than 1000 electric cars registered on our roads but the Government's package targets much greater numbers than that.

Mr Bridges said "a basic lack of choice" was holding the market back but he was confident the options would "open up".

"But with a substantial government package in place we'd expect manufacturers to move and make the most of that."

As for the minister's preference, he was looking at getting into an EV very soon but hadn't decided on a vehicle.

There are not a lot of fully electric cars on the market yet. Most are a hybrid mix of battery-fuelled electric motors working in tandem with a petrol engine. They're not cheap but - currently at least - are far cheaper to run. The issue is their range. A full charge still doesn't get you very far, hence the need for plenty of charging stations around the country.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But as far as getting motorists into EVs, other countries have created incentives for electric vehicles, most notably Norway.

After more than a decade of government support, earlier official projections estimated there would be 50,000 e-cars on Norway's roads by the end of next year. In fact that number was reached in April last year. By September it had grown to 66,000 all-electric cars, and an additional 8000 gasoline-electric hybrids.

The cost of operating a car in Norway can also include pricey parking fees, high tolls for bridges and tunnels, and expensive ferry tickets. So e-cars were exempted from those, too. And it doesn't hurt that fully charging a car battery from the grid costs the equivalent of only a few dollars, while gasoline retails in central Oslo for more than $6 a gallon.

On average, charging an electric vehicle at home in New Zealand is equivalent to buying petrol at 30 cents a litre.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

RSA 'alive and well' despite premises closure

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Whanganui Chronicle

‘Everyone went silent’: Whanganui Youth MP speaks in Parliament

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Opinion

Shelley Loader: How we can all get a share of the apples

11 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

RSA 'alive and well' despite premises closure

RSA 'alive and well' despite premises closure

11 Jul 06:00 PM

Former members are 'more than welcome' to return, RSA Welfare Trust president says.

‘Everyone went silent’: Whanganui Youth MP speaks in Parliament

‘Everyone went silent’: Whanganui Youth MP speaks in Parliament

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Shelley Loader: How we can all get a share of the apples

Shelley Loader: How we can all get a share of the apples

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Major Joanna Margaret Paul exhibition opens

Major Joanna Margaret Paul exhibition opens

11 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP