National is promising to increase the number of electric vehicle chargers to 10,000 if elected in October.
But in doing so, the party would scrap the clean car discount, calling it “unnecessary”, expensive and fiscally unsustainable.
The announcement has started a back-and-forth between Labour and National, with both sides saying each other's plan will stop people from using EVs.
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, National’s transport spokesperson Simeon Brown said “range anxiety” is a big part of why people aren’t getting into EVs. He said that more chargers would allow better accessibility.
“The key thing here is we are the party of infrastructure, and we need to build the infrastructure of the future for our economy and give people the choices they need to buy those cars with confidence that they can use them here in New Zealand."
Brown said people already driving EVs would likely be able to afford them without the rebate - given their high price tag.
“We’ve been very clear about our position on the clean car discount scheme. We’ve not supported it, we don’t think it’s necessary, it’s cost the taxpayer $280 million a year,” he said.
“And during a cost of living crisis, we don’t think it’s fiscally responsible to continue to make subsidies to people who can already afford those cars.”
Also joining Breakfast was Labour MP Tangi Utikere, who said the cost of the vehicles themselves was holding people back from buying, not charging.
“Well, I welcome National coming to the party because we have been rolling chargers out around the country. We have 1200 of them,” he said.
“The real thing is this that cost is a barrier for people to enter the market in terms of obtaining EVs.”
“What we’ve seen is that the clean car discount has really provided an opportunity for folk to enter the market.”
He said that lowering the cost of buying an EV would make things much more “accessible” for everyone.
But in Brown’s eyes, more and more EVs are going to roll off production lines, which means they’ll start to get cheaper, which is why he believes chargers should be a focus.
“Prices will come down as scale increases, and so the role the Government has is to roll out the infrastructure.”
Expert gives his take
He said that while any investment is good investment, things aren't quite as bad as what National is describing.
Motoring journalist Richard Edwards told Breakfast that any investment into EVs is a positive.
“It is really important. Obviously, there’s a lot of things we could do to reduce emissions, but I’d argue that transport is one of the lower-hanging fruits.”
He said that what Labour is currently doing isn’t quite as bad as what National are making it out to be.
“Labour is actually running a scheme put in place by National in the last government where they’ve been co-funding chargers and other electric vehicle infrastructure,” he said.
Edwards said: “New Zealand is actually doing better in EV infrastructure than what National painted yesterday."
“But any boost to get that moving faster and get more chargers out there is great for those people coming into the market.”
He said the reason New Zealand has fewer chargers than other countries is because some places don’t have many driveways and garages - which are in abundance here.
“The best place to charge your vehicle is at home, and New Zealand is blessed.”
“Most of us have driveways, most of us have garages, and we can do that.”
He said that “some money is helpful”, but we would need to “wait and see” what happens if they’re elected before really picking apart the policy.
He also believes cutting the discount would “absolutely” pose a challenge to those looking to get into clean cars and businesses wanting to update their fleet.
“I think that our electrified fleet will grow, but for a lot of people, that $7000 off on a new EV was a big part of the process.
“It certainly pulled a lot of people into that market.”
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