National supports New Zealanders having access to a competitive and affordable range of vehicles, including efficient and electric vehicles. We have confirmed we will retain the Clean Vehicle Standard.

In 2025 we made temporary changes to reduce the risk of settings increasing vehicle prices and reducing choice, and we are now working on new targets and settings that are realistic and achievable for industry. These will include separate targets for used vehicle imports, with new settings due to take effect from 1 January 2028.

Our approach is about encouraging a greater supply of efficient and electrified vehicles while maintaining affordability and consumer choice.

National supports the uptake of lower and zero-emission vehicles while keeping vehicles affordable for households and businesses. We have retained the Clean Vehicle Standard, which encourages the supply of more fuel-efficient, hybrid and zero-emission vehicles into New Zealand.

We also provide targeted support for low and zero-emission heavy vehicles through the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund.

National has not announced any policy to change FBT settings or introduce a pre-tax EV benefit programme.

National has set a target of 10,000 public EV charge points by 2030.

We are accelerating delivery through zero-interest concessionary loans that leverage private investment. The first round will deliver 2,574 new public charge points and a second funding round of around $21 million is underway now. As of May 2026, there were 2,182 public charge points in NZ.

We have also removed unnecessary consenting barriers. Nationally consistent rules now make it easier to install chargers.

National supports the electrification of commercial and heavy vehicle fleets and is removing regulatory barriers that can stand in the way of investment. We provide grants of up to 25% of the purchase or conversion cost of low and zero-emission heavy vehicles through the Low Emissions Heavy Vehicle Fund.

We have also changed driver licensing rules to account for the additional weight of zero-emission trucks and buses and are progressing a wider review of vehicle dimension and mass settings to reduce unnecessary barriers while protecting safety and road infrastructure.

Transport electrification has an important role to play in improving New Zealand’s energy security. By increasing the uptake of more efficient and electric vehicles, we can reduce our reliance on imported fuel and make New Zealand more resilient to international fuel-price and supply shocks.

Labour introduced the Clean Car Standard because we believe a vehicle emissions standard is the right tool to make sure New Zealand keeps receiving a good supply of efficient and electric vehicles, rather than becoming a destination for higher-emitting models other markets no longer want. We continue to support that principle. Importers order stock well in advance, so the settings need to be stable, predictable and developed in close consultation with industry. Labour wants New Zealanders and businesses to have access to a competitive range of low and zero-emission options across the whole fleet, including the growing range of light commercial and heavy vehicles.

Labour wants zero-emission vehicles to be within reach of more households and businesses, not only those who can afford a new car. We agree that tax settings, including FBT, shouldn’t work against businesses choosing cleaner vehicles. Fleet vehicles flow through to the second-hand market, where most New Zealanders buy their cars, so getting more zero-emission vehicles into fleets today means more affordable options for everyday buyers in the years ahead.

Labour is also open to looking at pre-tax EV benefit programmes, including salary sacrifice initiatives, as fiscal conditions allow. Approaches of this kind, used in some other markets, let employees access a zero-emission vehicle through their employer at a lower effective cost, broadening uptake beyond traditional fleet buyers. We’re open to working with industry on how a scheme like this could be designed for the New Zealand context, what it would cost, and how it would be targeted so that it delivers real uptake while remaining fiscally responsible.

Labour wants a reliable, nationwide charging network that gives drivers confidence to travel anywhere in New Zealand, including regional areas where commercial returns can be harder to achieve. We will require NZTA to consider making surplus land available for EV chargers, helping get more chargers where people need them. Much EV charging happens at home, and our SolarSaver policy will help households generate and store their own power, which can also charge their vehicles. We’ll work with charge point operators, electricity distributors, businesses and local government on the right mix of public, workplace and commercial charging, and a clear pathway to nationwide coverage.

Labour recognises that fleet and freight operators make decisions based on long-term total cost of ownership, so certainty matters. We support moving all vehicles to a universal electronic RUC system. We’re open to working with industry on how regulatory settings, including vehicle dimension and mass rules, can keep pace with heavier zero-emission vehicles and the infrastructure they need, while protecting road safety and the network.

Transport electrification is an important part of strengthening New Zealand’s energy security. This year’s fuel crisis showed how exposed households and businesses are to disruption and price shocks in imported fuel. Electric vehicles powered by our largely renewable electricity reduce that exposure. Labour has always backed renewable energy, and our SolarSaver policy and community battery fund will help more households and communities generate and store their own power. Growing domestic renewable generation alongside transport electrification will reduce our reliance on imported fossil fuels over time.

The Green Party are supportive of incentives and changes to regulatory settings to ensure the New Zealand market has a range of electric vehicles to meet the needs of New Zealanders. We support strengthening the Clean Car Standard and implementing a phase-out date for the import of fossil-fuel powered vehicles.

The Green Party are supportive of incentives for purchasing electric vehicles, such as fringe benefit tax benefits. More businesses that invest in electric vehicles mean these vehicles become available in the second-hand market at prices that everyday households are more likely to afford. We are also supportive of returning the successful Clean Car Discount and strengthening it. We are totally open to exploring accelerated depreciation and novated leasing for electric vehicles as well.

The Green Party has a specific commitment in our manifesto to build more EV charging stations and will work with the sector, businesses, and households to achieve this. We also see a role for planning rules to ensure parking for new buildings, homes and neighbourhoods are wired and ready for EV charging.

The Green Party support making zero-emission heavy vehicles more affordable relative to diesel vehicles through tax incentives and funding. We are open to making changes to vehicle-dimension and mass settings when in Government to remove regulatory barriers to the uptake of zero-emission commercial and freight vehicles.

The Green Party have been clear for decades that shifting away from fossil fuels will reduce vulnerability to the oil price shocks that put pressure on households. This is central to our election policies this year, which include commitments to reducing barriers to electric vehicle uptake, but also our commitments to increasing the frequency and reliability of public transport, funding increases for electric bus uptake, and boosting renewable energy to bring power prices down.

To get affordable EVs onto our shores and into the second-hand market, Opportunity will put the government’s thumb on the scale, and look to transition the government vehicle fleet to full EV, and then encourage businesses to follow suit through two specific tax levers:

• Fully Accelerated Depreciation: Allowing businesses to deduct the full cost of an eligible EV in the year of purchase to improve cashflow and offset the upfront price premium.
• Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) Exemption: Implementing a two-year FBT exemption for new electric vehicles purchased by businesses (capped at the first $50,000 of purchase price, or $75,000 for light commercial vehicles like vans and utes), which sunsets in 2030 when the market matures.

These fleet vehicles are then eventually on-sold into the secondary market, supplying affordable used EVs for everyday New Zealand households.

Businesses account for around 60% of new light vehicle registrations. Our targeted tax changes above (capped at $50k for standard EVs and $75k for commercial vans/utes) remove cashflow barriers so businesses can rapidly electrify their fleets.

• For households that save the most on running costs but can least afford upfront vehicle prices, our primary driver is creating a vibrant second-hand market within a few years as tax-supported business fleets are turned over.
• To make EV charging at home accessible for everyone, we will introduce “Right to Charge” legislation so renters and tenants cannot be unreasonably blocked by landlords from installing EV chargers, and amend the Building Code so all new builds automatically include EV Chargers.

As above, we will introduce “Right to Charge” legislation so renters and tenants cannot be unreasonably blocked by landlords from installing EV chargers, and amend the Building Code so all new builds automatically include EV Chargers.

We also support a large scale rollout, already committed to by this government, of 10,000 EV chargers nationwide. We will also allow building energy improvements like two-way smart EV chargers to be written off against tax.

As above, our targeted tax changes above (capped at $50k for standard EVs and $75k for commercial vans/utes) remove cashflow barriers so businesses can rapidly electrify their fleets.

Through our Abundant Energy policy, we will ensure generation and network distribution scale up ahead of transport demand:

• 30 GW Renewable Generation Target by 2050: We will secure a 25-year cross-party energy strategy to expand total capacity to 30 GW by 2050 (roughly 2.7 times our current capacity) by adding at least 19 GW of new renewable generation and storage (wind, solar, geothermal).
• To provide long-term certainty for renewable developers, we will launch a Capacity Investment Scheme (modelled on Australia’s successful scheme) using competitive tenders to guarantee baseline revenue for new generation and grid-scale storage, while ringfencing state-owned generator profits to reinvest directly into clean energy projects.
• To cut through red tape and speed up network upgrades, we will:
  • Merge the 5 existing energy regulatory agencies into 1 unified body.
  • Consolidate the management of New Zealand’s 29 local lines companies (EDBs) down to no more than 8 to drive efficiency, standardize connection costs, and fast-track grid upgrades for transport electrification.