# Electric Cars Exempt from Road User Charges in New Zealand



## Nick Smith (Oct 26, 2007)

I must have missed this while I was lamenting the loss of my proposed EV conversion to an incident with a traffic island!

I think I noticed KiwiEV pointing it out a while ago but it all seemed like heresay at the time. Lo and behold I discover it is true . The NZ government actually gave us something. As of 1 Oct 2009 all EV that source the electricity "wholly or partly form an external source" are excempt from RUC. They still get you Prius drivers though 'cause your electricity comes from dirty, dirty petrol (as opposed to dirty dirty coal fired station).

On this note - does anyone know how much average carbon/kwhr (at the socket) for power generated in NZ? I want to be able to stick it to people who use the coal station vs petrol argument with me.


----------



## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

Nick Smith said:


> On this note - does anyone know how much average carbon/kwhr (at the socket) for power generated in NZ? I want to be able to stick it to people who use the coal station vs petrol argument with me.


I have some figures from a large, un-aerodynamic (2 tonne) vehicle conversion project here in NZ which might help. The project is currently on hold:

The GHG (greenhouse gas) emission levels of the electric vehicle will depend solely on the electricity source. This is a beneficial situation in New Zealand, as currently more than 70% of all electricity is generated from completely renewable sources.* 

If the electricity used to power the vehicle comes only from clean, carbon neutral, renewable sources, then the CO2 emissions will be 0 kilograms per year, based on 27,500 kilometres.

If the electricity source used to power the vehicle is a mix of non-renewable electricity and clean renewable electricity, then the C02 emissions will be 2200 kilograms per year, based on 27,500 kilometres.**

With an equivalent vehicle powered by a diesel engine consuming 12 litres of fuel per 100 kilometres, burning an average of 3300 litres per year with 2.6 kilograms of CO2 released per litre, then the CO2 emissions will be 8639 kilograms per year, based on 27,500 kilometres.**










* Source: www.mfe.govt.nz 
** Based on New Zealand diesel emissions figures of 2.618kgCO2/litre, and *New Zealand electricity emissions figures of 0.2tCO2/MWh from* www.med.govt.nz using 11 MWh of standard electricity (400 Wh/km) for 27,500 kilometres from mixed renewable and non-renewable sources. 

It compares a large electric vehicle to a large diesel vehicle but you get the idea. 
At the very least those electricity emissions figures above will help you work it out for a typical EV using ~0.2 kWh/km or so.

Good luck!


----------

