I probably should have felt quite excited by the government’s announcement yesterday to encourage the uptake of electric cars by making them exempt from road user charges. After all, electric cars will undoubtedly play a big role in reducing our oil dependency and our CO2 emissions from the transportation sector. While electric cars are very much still a developing technology, they certainly offer more promise as a way of detaching ourselves from our oil-addiction than biofuels or hydrogen cars do. Furthermore, in New Zealand because we generate most of our electricity from non-emitting renewable sources, we’re not just shifting emissions from individual cars to coal or gas power plants (although we still are to some extent, as the share of New Zealand’s power generated by renewables has been declining over the past decade). This is outlined in the government’s press release:
“Combining highly efficient electric motors with our competitive advantage in renewable electricity generation will reduce the greenhouse gases produced by the transport sector, as well as the harmful emissions affecting air quality.”
Yet I feel underwhelmed by it, and in fact somewhat suspicious that Steven Joyce has an ulterior motive in making this announcement. There are a couple of quote in particular that highlight my suspicion, firstly:
The Government sees private vehicles continuing to be the most significant mode of transportation for most New Zealanders. Therefore it is important that we encourage the use of alternative fuel technologies in order to help meet our environmental obligations over time.
Although of course this is no surprise, it just reinforces the fact that Steven Joyce does not seem to see a mode-shift towards public transport as a way to help meet our environmental obligations (or reduce our oil dependency) as something worth mentioning. In fact it seems like he doesn’t actually think it’s possible. But the really telling quote comes later on, even though it’s actually used to justify the move:
“There are very few electric vehicles currently in the fleet and the forgone revenue costs will not be significant. This is about government supporting a new fuel technology and encouraging early adopters,” says Mr Joyce.
So, he’s making a big song and dance about how electric cars will play a crucial role in helping the transport sector reduce its CO2 emissions and help meet its “environmental obligations”, while at the same time he is saying that there are very very few electric vehicles at the moment, so it really won’t make a difference (to costs, but arguably to anything).
I imagine for the next few years any time someone trots out questions about how the government’s transport spending, which is stuck in a 1950s time-warp, will respond to the issues of climate change and peak oil, Steven Joyce will simply mention this well-meaning, but ultimately pretty negligible, policy change. It does seem to be little more than an excuse to plow ahead with his pro-roads agenda.
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Realistically (I almost wrote “to be fair”, but then I remembered it was Steven Joyce) there are large chunks of NZ where public transport isn’t particularly feasible.
Quite apart from anything else, replacing 90% of cars with an electric equivalent would do wonder for air quality, and by extension, health, in our clean green cities. In fact I think one should have to argue the case to keep oil-fueled cars 30 years into the future, rather than arguing the case to replace them…
Very true Chris, and I hope that I do get across the idea that I’m a huge fan of electric cars. I just suspect that this will become Steven Joyce’s primary argument for his 1950s time-warp roading policies when people bring up peak oil and climate change.
electric cars will do next to nothing for air quality in the vast majority of NZ for the vast majority of the time because air quality tends not to be an issue, and at those rare times and places it is, it mostly is home heating causing the bulk of the problem.
In somewhere like Auckland, transportation emissions are the primary cause of air quality issues. So, in that respect, promoting electric cars is a good move. I just wonder how much of a “drop in the bucket” this step is though.
insider: One quarter of New Zealanders live in Auckland. Add in Wellington, Hamilton and Christchurch, and you’ve probably got half of us. All of those places have major air-quality issues near busy road routes. I frequently come over the top of the hill near my house and think “isn’t the mist pretty”, then remember what the mist is mostly made of. You don’t want to breathe on Strong St after the bus has been past, either. The emissions “test” they do on imported cars is a joke.
Hi – can you advise if there are any incentives or grants to acquiring / owning alternative fuel vehicles – electric specifically in New Zealand? If I ordered and had delivered a Tesla – which is on the cards, would I be able to access a grant for such a vehicle in NZ?
You won’t have to pay road user charges.