New Zealand Extends Tax Exemption for EV Drivers

The New Zealand government extends its exemption from a tax on electric vehicles, a move that will save drivers up to NZ$600 ($438) a year.

The move makes light EVs exempt from paying road-user charges that otherwise apply to vehicles that aren’t fueled by gasoline, such as diesels and all vehicles over 3.5 tons. The exemption is being extended to Dec. 31, 2021 as part of the government’s EV-promotion program.

Transport Minister Simon Bridges says the government is committed to accelerating the uptake of EVs in New Zealand because the benefits of going electric are clear.

“They’re cheaper to run than petrol (gasoline) or diesel vehicles, they’re powered by our abundant renewable-electricity supply and they’ll reduce the amount of emissions that come from the country’s vehicle fleet,” Bridges says in a statement.

“Charging an EV is equivalent to buying petrol at NZ$0.30 per liter ($0.83 US per gallon), compared to current petrol costs of just under NZ$2 a liter ($5.53 a gallon).”

By exempting road-user charges, an EV owner could save up to NZ$3,000 ($2,191) over five years.

“We are also working on introducing a road user charges exemption for heavy EVs such as buses and trucks,” Bridges says.

The exemption is one of the 14 initiatives the government announced in May to help achieve its goal to double the number of EVs on New Zealand roads each year to reach 64,000 units by 2021.