If you buy a new EV in 2022 you will receive a $8000 rebate from the govt right? Wrong. You will receive a rebate as long as there’s money in the rebate account. If its empty, you’re out of luck. That’s just one of a long list of crazy and unclear ideas that underpin this legislation.

Chloe, Julie, and Jimmy are all celebrating

The govt has kicked off the scheme by putting $300 million into the account. That means the full discount can be paid out on 37,500 cars before the account is empty. Not that many and in terms of CO2 savings, negligible. However the account is topped up by the new taxes (broken promise) paid on Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) cars.

It has to be assumed someone deep in the bowels of the MBIE has done the calculations and worked out the taxes will always top up the account faster than it is drawn down by the rebates. However, they have stated quite clearly that if this doesn’t happen, and the account runs low, you don’t get your rebate. Not ever.

Your application is not put on a spike for being dealt with later. The govt actually throws out your subsidy application, end of story. They don’t start paying out again until there is sufficient funds in the account, and only to those who apply after the account has been topped up. If you purchase during the funding void, you miss out completely.

The govt covers this in another way by saying the rebate will only remain in force until 31st December 2022. However they don’t say what happens if the account is exhausted before this date. Confusing right?

As above, maybe it won’t happen, but just remember, it is in the fine print.

Another affect. The price of ICE cars currently in the country is going to increase. If the price of new ICE cars entering the country is increased, naturally it will push up the price of existing cars. Even old ones that poor people buy.

There’s no EV option available for this kind of work, despite what Jacinda Ardern claims

Whichever way you look at it, this is people who are forced to buy ICE cars, farmers, tradies, trailer boat and caravan owners, distance travelers, large families, and poor people will be subsidising smug inner city dwellers and over-paid govt workers who don’t really need a car but buy one for occasional use.

Green Communist Party leader Jimmy Shaw, who doesn’t own a car, and doesn’t like driving, is over the moon with the new policy. Last weekend, he let his hair down by walking around downtown Wellington and drinking a craft beer.

Its outrageous that the govt has decided to force those who have a need for ICE vehicles to pay for a motoring choice voluntarily made by others. Especially when the whole objective is a childlike fantasy that doesn’t stand logical scrutiny for more than a nanosecond.

Its just amazing that the New Zealander psyche has become so compliant that many are content to happily embrace this kind of rabid authoritarian nonsense.

The govt has released a fact sheet relating to this harebrained scheme. Its not much help, but you can download a copy here (pdf)- Clean-Car-Discount-factsheet