Transport Ministry says 'ambitious' Clean Car Standard needed

Wednesday, 16 December 2020

Here's how you can help fight climate change by paying to neutralise the carbon emissions you create (video published October 2020).

Emissions caps that will drive car buyers towards more fuel-efficient imported new and second-hand cars look likely to be announced early next year.

The Clean Car Standard is expected to boost the supply and lower the price of electric vehicles, hybrids and some very small petrol cars, while restricting and pushing up the cost of imported ‘gas guzzlers’.

Dealers would be effectively forced to ration the import of more fuel-hungry cars to match their sales of lower-emission imports, achieving essentially the same result as the Greens’ sidelined ‘Feebate” scheme.

The previous government planned to require the “average” imported vehicle emit no more than 105 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre travelled by 2025, through a series of phased reductions.

That would mean that by 2025 the average imported vehicle that Kiwis would be able to buy in terms of emissions would be something like a 1.2 litre manual Suzuki Swift or a Toyota Next-Gen RAV4 hybrid.

* Feebates vanish but Labour still has the more ambitious policy on car emissions

An average emissions target of 105g/km by 2025 was chosen as the likely goal for imported vehicles 18 months ago, but since then calls for tougher climate action have increased.

* Standards proposed to make our national car fleet more efficient could drive up car prices

Transport Minister Michael Wood reiterated the Government’s commitment to introducing the standard, which he said would “save Kiwis money at the pump” as well as reducing emissions.

But he would not comment on whether it might tighten or bring forward the 105g/km cap in the light of its declaration of a climate emergency and criticism from some environmentalists the target is too cautious.

“Given the size of the challenge we face, we’re considering a range of policies to tackle climate change and I’m aiming to make announcements on our plan to reduce transport emissions in the coming months,” he said.

Transport Ministry officials said in a briefing document released on Tuesday that “an ambitious Clean Car Standard” would be important for turning around worsening fleet emissions.

Policy work on the standard, which would require legislation and new funding in the May Budget, was mostly complete, it said.

The ministry estimated the average emissions of New Zealand’s light vehicle fleet at 176g/km in 2018.

The European Union brought down the average emissions of newly-registered cars to 122g/km last year and has set a tougher cap of 95g/km from 2021, pushing its market further and faster towards hybrids and EVs.

Swedish EV policy expert Jakob Lagercrantz questioned in 2019 why New Zealand couldn’t align with Europe and adopt the same goal.

Toyota New Zealand chief executive Neeraj Lala warned earlier this month that New Zealand risked becoming a dumping ground for “dirty diesels” under current policy settings.

But the Motor Trade Association has been pushing for more sedate changes, arguing a 105g/km target for 2025 was going “too far, too fast” and the Government should be aiming to achieve that by 2030.