Government set to ponder adjusting levels of rebates and penalties after only gathering $105.1m in fees.
The government has paid out nearly twice as much in rebates as it has received in fees since the clean car discount scheme became fully operational last year.
The feebate scheme was implemented at the start of April 2022 and offers discounts of up to $8,625 on certain low and zero-emissions vehicles when they are first registered in New Zealand.
High emitters attract penalties of up to $5,175, with those levies designed to help cover the costs of paying for rebates.
However, the increasing uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) since the system was launched means an adjustment in the size of the discounts or fees may soon be on the way.
New figures reveal the government collected $105.1 million in penalty payments from April 1 to December 31 last year, while the total amount of rebates paid over the same period was $203.3m.
Michael Wood, Minister of Transport, is hailing the success of the policy and has previously said he will monitor the amount received and paid out under the scheme. Any changes made to it would not come into effect until after April 1 this year, reports the New Zealand Herald.
Simeon Brown, National’s transport spokesman, is calling for the government to scrap the “unsustainable” scheme that “subsidises people who can already afford to buy expensive Teslas”.
EV demand grows
The gulf between the figures for the feebate scheme come as New Zealand broke two records for electric vehicles in December, capping off a year of surging demand for clean cars.
Just over 20 per cent of all new vehicles and a quarter of new passenger cars registered last month were battery electric vehicles (BEVs), both records.
For 2022 as a whole, there were 16,002 new and 3,817 used import BEVs brought into the country, and 7,307 new and 1,955 used import plug-in hybrids, according to the Ministry of Transport.
The rising demand also means the market share of BEVs for new-vehicle sales was 15 per cent last year, up from six per cent in 2021.
Keyword: Feebate scheme forks out $203.5m