By Lucy Craymer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – Buyers of electric cars with low emissions will be favored as the New Zealand government extends its car rebate scheme to further boost sales of green vehicles, it said on Tuesday.
Transport Minister Michael Wood said in a statement rebates will be narrowed to focus on more fuel efficient cars. Incentives will improve for some cars, but fees will increase for vehicles with higher emissions.
The government’s upcoming budget will increase the scheme allocation by NZ$100 million, he said.
The original scheme boosted sales of new electric cars, with higher-than-expected demand for low emission vehicles.
“With over 100,000 rebates granted since the scheme came into effect in 2021, we currently have one of the fastest uptakes of EVs in the world,” said Wood.
Twenty percent of all new passenger cars sales were electric in 2022, up from 8% in 2021, he added.
“The scheme is also now forecast to reduce emissions by 3.4 million metric tonnes by 2035. That’s an additional 50% out to 2035 over and above what was forecast when it started,” said Wood.
(Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Richard Chang)
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