Ardern rules out exempting farm utes from clean car scheme

Wednesday, 16 June 2021

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ruled out any exemptions for farmers from the Government’s clean car scheme that aims to move people out of higher carbon-emitting vehicles.

Farmers are upset that under the scheme they will face levies on buying new combustion-engine vehicles like utes, which they need to carry out their work, even though no alternative low-emission vehicles are available. The levies will be applied from January next year and could add almost $3000 to the cost of a new petrol-run Toyota Hilux.

“People who are living in rural areas do not have an opportunity to purchase other vehicles and we would like to see some kind of an acknowledgement of that until they have options available,” DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim Mackle told Stuff at Fieldays in Mystery Creek near Hamilton.

“They should be exempt for some period until they can have options. It is just penalising farmers and rural people, that we don’t think is very fair.”

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However, Ardern, who was also at Fieldays, told reporters that the Government would not add any exemptions.

She said the Government gave exemptions “really strong consideration”, recognising that there was not an alternative in the market right now.

“We discussed whether or not, because there is a time lag for the development of some of those EV and hybrid alternatives for utility vehicles, whether there should be some form of carve out,” she said. “We did discuss that because we recognise there is a lag in the technology right now.”

However, she said, exclusions would be “very difficult” to operate as many buyers of utes were not using them for work in the primary sector or in trades.

Ardern said she hoped the timeframe for the new technologies would be “relatively short”. She said manufacturers were indicating hybrids or EVs would be in the market in the next 12 to 24 months.

The penalties would apply when vehicles were first registered in New Zealand, whether they were secondhand cars that had been imported or new cars.

Ardern noted that the extra charges did not apply to existing vehicles in the country, offering options for people who wanted to avoid the fees.

Toyota New Zealand chief executive Neeraj Lala earlier this week shot down comments from Ardern that the company could bring in EV utes within the next 12 to 24 months. Toyota did not have any plans for a battery electric Hilux in its line-up in the next 18 to 24 months, he said.

Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford has said that while many manufacturers were working hard to get in a fully electric ute, plug-in hybrid utes might become more widely available by 2025 and full battery electric utes after that.

Motor Trade Association strategy manager Greig Epps has said that under the scheme, rural people who need utes for work could end up paying penalties that fund discounts for city dwellers to use on a low emission run-about.

Under the policy, people who purchase a new EV priced under $80,000 from July will receive a rebate of up to $8625, while those who opt for a used model will receive a refund of up to $3450.

The rebates will be funded from the fees on higher emitting vehicles from next year.