How valuable is NZ’s EV ‘feebate’ compared to RoW?

The Government has announced a ‘feebate’ to make low-carbon emission cars more affordable from 1 July 2021.

A used fully electric car will receive up to NZ$3,450 while a brand new one could fetch up to NZ$8,625 through this rebate. There are smaller rebates announced for hybrids too (NZ$5,750 for a new one and NZ$2,300 for a used car). A price limit of NZ$80,000 is set in order to cash in on this rebate.

This also means that from January next year, it just got a lot more expensive to buy a fossil-fuel-powered car as this rebate will be paid for by taking into consideration the weight and the fuel efficiency of the car. 

How valuable is the ‘feebate’ when compared to other nations?

Australia has taken an ‘infrastructure first’ approach to help develop the nation’s EV infrastructure by pumping funds into the private sector. Though a logical approach, there not being any financial help to a person who wants to buy an EV but can’t afford it was highly criticized. 

Despite this, there has been a spike in EV sales in the country growing to 0.6% of the total car sales in 2021.

In the UK, the government has slashed down its rebate from the Plug-in car grant (PiCG) from GBP4,500 to GBP2,500 with a price cap of GBP35,000. If a Brit bought an eligible EV in 2016, this grant would net them GBP5,000. 

Similar to Australia, the sales of EVs grew this year in the UK and now account for 10% of the total car sales in 2021.

On paper, New Zealand’s rebate scheme looks much better than our commonwealth counterparts. But will the nation’s EV infrastructural development be able to keep up with the impending surge in EV users? We will have to wait and see.