Hon Dr Nick Smith MP National Party Climate Change Spokesman

18 October 2007

Electric cars disconnected from reality

Government plans for New Zealand to be a world leader in electric cars lack credibility and are disconnected from reality, says National's Climate Change spokesman, Nick Smith.

"It is simply not possible to reduce per-capita electricity use at the same time as introducing hundreds of thousands of electric cars."

Labour's energy strategy promised 5% of New Zealand's vehicle fleet would be electric by 2020 and 60% would be running on electricity by 2040.

"Labour has overseen eight years of an increasingly ageing car fleet which is the dirtiest, noisiest, and one of the least efficient in the OECD. The idea that they can now become world leaders in electric car technology is laughable.

"The Government is relying on a growth in electricity use of just 0.4% per annum, when the past 20 years has seen yearly growth of 2% per annum. To claim that this massive fleet of electric cars can be powered from energy savings defies belief.

"Labour is also very foolish to rely on its latest energy strategy when its 2001 version, which cost $100 million, was reviewed in 2006 and found to have saved less energy than in the previous five years, when there was no strategy.

"Labour's energy strategies have failed to spark and their electric car utopia will remain a pipedream.

"The Energiser Bunny has more chance of making it work."

ENDS

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