Just a thought on the condition of our roads.

My little Renault Megane weighs 1419kg. A Tesla Model S weighs 2100kg.

Could it be that the EVs are aiding and abetting tearing up our roads? That is a huge weight difference.

This is on top of the fact that – due to extraction and disposal methods of materials my Megane has to be driven for 40,000km before the Tesla eeks ahead in terms of emissions – and then only marginally and dependent on those extraction and disposal methods.

NZ now has 62,000 EV’s – up 60% in 2022.

Given there are no farm vehicle alternatives this must bite in rural areas: “the Toyota HiLux since April has a penalty of between $NZ1293.75 and $NZ4772.50 according to the NZ Ministry of Transport’s website. Ford’s Ranger cops fees from $NZ2026.88 to $NZ4657.50. This applies to new and used examples.”

The costs to taxpayers have been enormous so far:

New Zealand’s clean car discount is intended to be a revenue-neutral system, with subsidies being paid for by a tax on vehicles with high emissions, such as diesel-powered pickup trucks. Since April, however, only NZD62.8 million (USD35.7 million) has reportedly been collected from owners of high-emissions vehicles, but over NZD95 million (USD54 million) has been paid out in subsidies. 

I wonder how many lower-socio-economic families have gone EV? Are we supposed to think about these things or just go with Michael Wood’s next bright idea?