The National Party will introduce a nationwide EV network of 10,000 public chargers if it is elected into Government.

National’s Supercharging EV Infrastructure plan will see $257 million invested over four years to deliver the 10,000 public EV chargers. The plan will also eliminate the need for resource consents for EV charging points to reduce up-front costs.

The party also promises to end the ‘ute tax’ and clean car discount schemes.

“Supercharging EV Infrastructure is part of National’s plan to rebuild the economy. After six years of Labour’s economic mismanagement, the economy is in recession, wages haven’t been keeping up with inflation and mortgage rates are hitting Kiwis in the back pocket,” said National leader Christopher Luxon.

“National will get our economy back on track by delivering the infrastructure New Zealand needs for the future.

“Around 20 per cent of New Zealand’s total emissions come from transport, so embracing EVs is crucial to delivering our climate change commitments,” he said.

“However, Kiwis won’t switch to an EV if they are anxious about whether they will be able to recharge it when and where they need to. Under the Labour Government, investment in public EV infrastructure has not kept pace with the rising number of EVs and New Zealand now has the fewest public chargers per electric vehicle in the OECD.”

The plan will see the 1200 public EV chargers currently available increase to 10,000 in 2030.

Luxon said it will give more Kiwis the confidence to make the switch to electric.

“That will help achieve both New Zealand’s climate change goals and National’s plan to rebuild the economy for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

“National will unleash the transition to an electric transport system by investing in EV infrastructure and cutting red tape to deliver more chargers, in more places, more quickly and more cheaply,” he said.

Luxon said National does not believe New Zealanders who can afford a brand-new electric car need a subsidy from taxpayers to buy it.

“The move to EVs will happen without subsidies as those who can afford new cars choose to reduce their personal carbon footprints and their dependence on fossil fuels. We will therefore end the clean car discount scheme,” he said.

“National’s priority is rolling out public charging infrastructure, using the highly successful co-investment model National previously used to deliver high-speed fibre internet across the country.”