WyleECoyoteNZ:
Change a little, yes.
In my opinion, we\the Govt, need to take small steps in getting people to reduce emissions with vehicle choices.
A better way would be to encourage people towards hybrids and PHEV vehicles, then they can get a feel for electric running, then decide later on if a pure EV will work for them. A change to a pure EV is a big big change to there private transport.
To be honest, I had to replace my previous vehicle of a Cruze late last year, and a EV wasn't even a consideration, nor was a Hybrid or PHEV for that matter.
Only having 1 vehicle, that vehicle had to fill the role of family car, touring\traveling car, shopping car\everyday car.
And simply the range anxiety of a EV, just simply doesn't cut it to fill the above mentioned roles of the vehicle at the price point I brought at (mid $20K)
Also, not owning my own home and renting, means I don't have guaranteed home charging available to me. My current residence does have a garage where an EV could be charged, but if I were to move\have to move, there is no guarantee the next place would
On a road trip from Wellington to Tauranga over the Christmas break, we did make a couple of stops on the way up, (Bulls & Taupo), where we stopped at Bulls, I didn't see EV charging nearby, or where we stopped (Vivs Kitchen\25 minutes stopped) that doesn't mean it wasn't there, I just didn't see it.
And Taupo was, as you'd expect, crazy busy. Again, where I stopped (Taupo Cossie Club \ 45 minutes stopped), I didn't see EV charging there or nearby, again, that doesn't mean it wasn't there, I just didn't see it.
Yes, reduce emissions and every little bit counts, but take the public on a journey to EV's. As part of that journey, don't penalize those who can't immediately change
Even in the absence of plug in vehicle's a policy like this would be logical to decrease our fleet emissions. Alternatives are cranking the price of fuel up, which would be quite regressive, or subsidizing more efficient vehicle's, which would cost the taxpayer $$ and undermine non private car modes of transport.
In terms of serving people with a single car for everything, no off street paring and moderate budgets, something like a 2018 fielder hybrid can be had for $20,500, and come in substantially under the limit so would collect credits for the importer.
Should also note that many of the cars on our roads today will still be running for the next decade or two.
It is also likely that new car offerings will be cleaner by the time the policy takes full effect in 2025.
Re PHEV's, we don't really have time to spend 5 - 10 years working on a stepping stone approach, we need a fairly fast timeline for action. I also don't think the government should be picking technology winners, rather setting results based targets and letting industry / consumers pick the technologies that work best for them.
Re your road trip's EV comparability, Both Taupo & Bulls have fast chargers. The taupo one is about 1km from where you stopped. The bulls one is close to the main intersection.
You can look up charger locations here:
Click the three bars in the top left than set the filter so only CCS/SAE plugs show. That will get you all the chargers that are fast enough to be of value on a road trip.
Something like a Kona electric would only require one 20min stop. If you wanted a cafe meal when you charged you would need to pick one within walking distance.
At the moment the big issue is the cost of road trip comparable EV's. Cheapest used Kona electric on trademe is a $60k ex aussie damaged import. $20k only buys you a 24kWh leaf at the moment. Which would be very painfull to make that trip in (I say that as somebody that owns one).
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