National Party leader Christopher Luxon has promised to build 10,000 new electric vehicle chargers, saying Kiwis aren’t switching to EVs because they have “range anxiety”. 

Luxon made the promise while campaigning in Christchurch this morning. 

He said National would invest $257 million over four years to build the chargers and revive the “highly successful” Ultra-Fast Broadband (UFB) funding model, which blended public and private sector investment. 

Luxon also reiterated National’s promise to axe Labour’s “ute tax”, the clean car discount which subsidises EV purchases by taxing polluting cars. 

Christopher Luxon said National would invest $257m over four years to build the chargers. Photo / Alan Gibson 

The policy has been successful at driving the uptake of EVs, but the tax component of it has been unpopular. 

“Supercharging EV Infrastructure is part of National’s plan to rebuild the economy. After six years of Labour’s economic mismanagement, the economy is in recession, wages haven’t been keeping up with inflation and mortgage rates are hitting Kiwis in the back pocket,” Luxon said. 

“National will get our economy back on track by delivering the infrastructure New Zealand needs for the future.” 

Around 20 per cent of New Zealand’s total emissions come from transport, so embracing EVs is crucial to delivering our climate change commitments, he said. 

• Watch: Luxon launches EV policy, pledges to axe 'ute tax'
• "No time for kumbaya and mush" - Chris Luxon

“Kiwis won’t switch to an EV if they are anxious about whether they will be able to recharge it when and where they need to,” he said. 

“Under the Labour Government, investment in public EV infrastructure has not kept pace with the rising number of EVs and New Zealand now has the fewest public chargers per electric vehicle in the OECD.” 

Regarding the clean car discount, Luxon said, “National does not believe New Zealanders who can afford a brand-new electric car need a subsidy from taxpayers to buy it. 

“The move to EVs will happen without subsidies,” he said. 

National's Christoper Luxon promised 10,000 new EV chargers while campaigning in Christchurch (above) this morning. Photo / Pierre Nixon 

“As those who can afford new cars [will] choose to reduce their personal carbon footprints and their dependence on fossil fuels,” Luxon said. 

He said the “ute tax” was “unfair and regressive. 

“Labour said this tax would pay for subsidies for people buying new EVs, but Labour’s figures were wrong and the scheme has required $281 million from taxpayers to cover the subsidies,” he said. 

“National’s priority is rolling out public charging infrastructure, using the highly successful co-investment model National previously used to deliver high-speed fibre internet across the country.”