Transport Minister Simeon Brown. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
An electric car lobby group is taking Transport Minister Simeon Brown to court over his decision to lower tailpipe CO2 emissions standards for car imports.
The Better New Zealand Trust said it was unreasonable of Brown to direct his transport officials to consult only four motoring groups - all of which were against the standards - before making a decision.
The trust said if EV suppliers had been consulted, they would have countered claims from the rest of the industry that there were not enough low-emissions vehicles available to meet the standards.
- Read more: Transport minister pushed ahead with weaker tailpipe standards to meet car industry's deadline
The trust said Brown should have asked for advice on whether New Zealand would still meet its emissions targets for the transport sector with the weaker tailpipe standards, after Ministry for the Environment officials raised concerns that the country's already tight carbon budgets would be "materially" harder to meet.
It claimed he acted contrary to the purpose of Part 13 (Clean vehicle standard) of the Land Transport Act, which is "to achieve a rapid reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from light vehicles imported into New Zealand, to assist New Zealand in meeting its 2050 target and emissions budgets".
Spokesperson Kathryn Trounson said the group wanted the High Court to quash the minister's new regulations, which government modelling had indicated could result in 39,000 fewer electric vehicles and 19,000 fewer plug-in hybrids being registered in New Zealand by 2035, compared with if the standards had stayed as they were.
Brown has previously said the standards would have made cars more expensive, citing car industry figures showing importers would attract millions of dollars in penalties if they could not source enough low-emissions cars, which they would pass on to car buyers.
The new, lower standards align with Australia's.
In a statement, Brown declined to comment on the case because it was before the courts but said:
"The Government supports the Clean Car Importer Standard to ensure that New Zealand has an affordable mix of clean vehicles
"Following a comprehensive review into the Standard, the Government made key changes to align the Standard with Australia as New Zealand and Australia are effectively the same car market."