You might not know this, but New Zealand’s at the bottom of the global league table for electric vehicle (EV) chargers, and the National government’s policies are ensuring we stay there, choking the life out of our clean energy transition.
According to the International Energy Agency’s 2024 Global EV Outlook, we’ve got the fewest public chargers per EV among 31 nations...one measly charger for every 95 EVs, compared to the UK’s one per 20. It’s a shameful statistic for a country that loves to promote itself as being clean and green. So, what’s the National-led government doing about it?
National’s big promise was 10,000 public chargers by 2030, backed by a $257 million investment. Sounds grand, but the reality’s a shambles. Last year, we were installing just 21 chargers a month when we need 130 to hit that target. At this pace, we’ll be lucky to scrape 3,000 in by the decade’s end. Energy Minister Simeon Brown’s recent announcement of 25 new high-speed charging hubs is a drop in the bucket...four to ten chargers per hub won’t cut it when we’re starting from a paltry 1,200 nationwide. Meanwhile, the government’s axing of the Clean Car Discount has tanked EV sales, plummeting from 27% of the market share in 2023 to a pathetic 8% this year. No rebates, no incentives...just a road user charge slapped on EVs from April 2024, making them costlier to run.
Yesterday, RNZ reported:
The chair of EV lobby group Drive Electric, Kirsten Corson said it was positive the government acknowleged the country needed more public chargers - but she doubted the loan scheme would make a significant difference.
The biggest barrier for companies building charging infrastructure is dealing with dozens of lines companies, she said.
That had to change for the network to expand quickly, she said.
"Otherwise ... this is going to become National's KiwiBuild, where we don't come anywhere close to 10,000 chargers by 2030."
Bishop acknowledged it was an "ambitious" target, but said the government was looking at a range of changes to boost numbers.
This isn’t just incompetence; it’s sabotage. National’s rhetoric about “supercharging” EV infrastructure rings hollow when their policies scare off private investment. Kirsten Corson from Drive Electric nailed it: scrapping subsidies has made it harder to attract capital for chargers, as companies see a shrinking EV market. The government’s co-investment model, inspired by the Ultra-Fast Broadband rollout, might sound clever, but it’s mired in red tape and lacks the urgency needed to scale up fast. Compare this to the Labour government’s Clean Car Discount, which saw one in two cars sold in June 2023 being electric. National’s decision to ditch that policy, alongside the “ute tax” that funded it, prioritizes fossil fuel-guzzling vehicles over climate action.
The kicker? New Zealand’s transport sector accounts for 17% of our emissions, with light vehicles responsible for nearly two-thirds of that. We’re nowhere near the 30% zero-emission vehicle target by 2035, let alone net-zero by 2050. National’s half-baked charger rollout and anti-EV policies are locking us into a high-carbon future, all while they crow about economic rebuilding. Their $257 million pledge is peanuts when billions are needed to improve infrastructure to ensure better EV uptake.
New Zealand deserves better. We need a government that backs electrification with bold subsidies, fast-tracks charger installations, and stops kowtowing to the fossil fuel lobby. Until then, National’s ensuring we’re stuck in the slow lane, choking on our own emissions.
