Govt subsidising Remuera Tesla drivers

The Herald reports:

Tesla owners have been the big winners of the Government’s clean car discount to date, with the buyers of 9730 Teslas getting a combined total of $83m in rebates from the scheme since it began in July 2021 – averaging about $8500 a car.

It’s nice the Government is doing something to help those struggling Tesla owners. Also nice they are helping Elon Musk regain some of the money he lost on Twitter!

The list of suburbs is not the roll call of well-heeled suburbs you might think with Manukau and Henderson bringing up the rear of the list which also includes Remuera, Ellerslie and Epsom. Brown noted that some suburbs that had large numbers of registrations could show the effect of companies registering their vehicle fleets, which are eligible for the subsidy.

Large numbers of companies and organisations have claimed the subsidy. Data from written Parliamentary Questions show more than $97m has been claimed by companies and organisations in the period to the end of February. Indeed, some car companies have been getting the subsidy by purchasing EVs, although the data does not show whether the EVs were their own. Tesla New Zealand received $327,375, and three Toyota organisations have claimed more than $2.2m.

Brown said the representation of wealthy suburbs on the list indicated the discount was a “reverse Robin Hood scheme where it is taking from people who don’t have a choice in terms of what they have to buy and giving it to people who do in terms of these vehicles”.

It’s also nice they are helping the struggling people of Remuera.

I remind people that the scheme also does not reduce GG emissions one gram, as transport is in the ETS. It simply reallocates the emissions to other sectors.