Kiwis asked to have a say on the future of electric vehicles

The Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (APEV) survey asks if New Zealand wants electric vehicles as part of a green, low carbon future.

Taupo, 13 February 2012 – The Association for the Promotion of Electric Vehicles (APEV) has launched a research project to gauge whether New Zealanders see electric cars as part of the country’s future commitment to a green, low carbon environment and economy.

Although New Zealand is committed to reducing emissions especially in road transport, there has been no decrease as the country’s fleet continues to be dominated by growing numbers of petrol and diesel vehicles that rely on vast amounts of imported fossil fuels which have increased 22 per cent to nearly $8 billion in the last year alone.

APEV Executive Director Rob McEwen says the milestone survey will seek to identify how receptive New Zealander’s are to having electric vehicles as one solution to boosting our competitive advantage resulting from less reliance imported fossil fuels.

“The survey offers a unique opportunity for Kiwis to have their say on the future for electric vehicles in New Zealand and we encourage as many people as possible to complete it. APEV will use the results to help inform the Government’s energy strategy and how electric vehicles can play an important part in New Zealand’s future," McEwen says.

‘We believe that APEV’s goal of enabling New Zealand to have the largest reduction in transport fuel of any OECD country by 2025 is achievable and we’re hoping that the survey will provide insights into how we might better accelerate the electrification of the transport fleet.”

McEwen adds that it is encouraging that major vehicle manufacturers such as Nissan and Mitsubishi of Japan have already produced two fully electric vehicles for sale in New Zealand.

“Electric cars like the Nissan Leaf are state of the art and can be plugged directly into the wall socket to be charged. Producing zero tailpipe emissions, electric cars offer everyone a safe and highly appealing urban driving experience that we think more and more New Zealanders will want to share as part of their commitment to a green economy and environment.”

The APEV survey can be found and completed at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/K65QSZP and a report on the research will be released later this year.