From the NZ Herald in one of its less tabloid moments:

“New Zealand must ban the import of petrol and diesel cars by 2032 in order to reach its climate change targets and decarbonise the economy, new advice recommends.
“And Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says the Government "will not hold back" on taking action and committed to setting more ambitious emissions commitments by the end of the year.”

Norway has fixed this at same ban at 2025. Does NZ really need seven more years? Smacks of weak will.

As I’ve blogged about recently, price parity between petrol/diesel and electric cars is expected to arrive in 3-5 years. If so, in five years, you’d think that just based on price, people aren’t going to be buying petrol/diesel cars. Why cry 2032 to the moon then as if it’s a good thing? It’s a waste of breath.

Remember that it’s not just the ticket price. Electric cars will still cost more to buy in 3-5 years, but the cost savings from filling up with electricity rather than petrol/diesel, not to mention the cheaper upkeep of electric cars (fewer moving parts among other things), eventually win out. One million (or even two million!) mile batteries are also on the way.

Given that New Zealand’s electricity mix is around 80% renewables, it’s also a win for the environment. The electric grid better be ready for this though. Thankfully perhaps, the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter shutting down (this year in theory) will mean around 8% of NZ’s electricity being freed up. Of course, there’s not the infrastructure to get most of this up north to where most of the population lives, so why not incentivise the southerners to buy electric cars before anyone else?

“Speeding up the response to climate change would reduce emissions faster and help New Zealand be at the front of the curve of climate action which presented opportunities, such as owning the rights to new technologies, Ardern said.”

Myth-making at its finest. NZ is currently sucking at this, big time, let’s not pretend otherwise. This pig can only take so much lipstick from the mouths of politicians.

[Cover photo by Waldemar Brandt on Unsplash]