The Taxpayers’ Union is dismissing concerns from EV lobbyists that there aren’t enough EV chargers in New Zealand, arguing that they are not necessary for emissions reduction but will be built anyway with private funding so long as the Government keeps its grubby fingers away.

Taxpayers’ Union Campaigns Manager, Connor Molloy, said:

“The main point that EV lobby groups, who often have strong financial interests in the sector, miss is that we already have a functioning Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) that limits the amount of net emissions than can be emitted.

“Any reduction in emissions from increased EV uptake won’t actually do what the policy sets out to achieve and reduce New Zealand’s net emissions. It will simply free up room under the fixed limit on emissions for someone else to emit instead.

“The Government didn’t need to own petrol stations when cars first started appearing on our roads so why would EV chargers be any different? As the ETS drives up the cost of fuel over time and electric vehicles become more attractive, the private sector will provide more charging points. The most effective way the Government could help would be by cutting red tape to make it easier to build more EV chargers.”

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