No electric vehicle option for farmers

ANNE HARDIE

Crossing waterways and driving dusty country roads is not a good recipe for electric vehicles (EV), so Tutaki Valley farmer Stephen Todd needs his diesel ute but will now have to pay higher fees when he replaces it.

Farmers and tradies who often need tough, four-wheel drive vehicles will now be paying about 10 per cent of the value of their utes to the Government following its announcement that it is increasing fees on high-emitting new vehicles.

Stephen, who is Nelson Federated Farmers president, says there is simply not an EV option for farmers who live in remote, rugged areas and need a vehicle that can tackle streams, rivers, mud and dusty country roads.

“We use the Braeburn Track quite often to go to Nelson and it has four fords – three bigger ones – but you wouldn’t want to be operating an electric vehicle through water like that all the time. Anything electronic with water doesn’t last well, long term. The same with dust around electric motors.

“It’s not like you have an option if you run out (of battery power). You can’t shoot down to the neighbour’s farm to get a bit of fuel. You have to have a power cord to it, so it’s a totally different ball game.”

He says the only EV ute on the market has a limited battery range and a 1.5 tonne towing capacity. When it tows anything, it halves the battery range and likewise when it carries a load. Without a suitable option, he says the Government is just taxing one sector to subsidise top-end cars that are driven in Auckland, Wellington and towns, generally.

“They shouldn’t be taxing vehicles until we have an option.

At the moment it is a straightout tax and you can’t avoid it.

At the moment the Government is being reactionary and there isn’t actually a long-term vision or pathway through to the other side. They are making a start but doing it quite blind.

“It’s pretty rough they are taxing us when we are years away from a true option.”

Until now, the fees on a new Ford Ranger ute was $2,645 and that is increasing to $5,290, while a Toyota increases from $2,990 to $5,635.

The Government has suggested farmers and tradies could buy second-hand utes, but Stephen says that leads to more maintenance and higher costs as well. Now, he suspects farmers will hold on to their utes longer, which will also lead to more maintenance costs.

He acknowledges there are plenty of utes in towns and cities that have never been off the road or needed 4WD, but those drivers had the option of buying EVs, whereas many farmers did not have an option.

Down the track, hybrid utes may be an option for farmers, but Stephen says that is still a long way off.

Hydrogen is a possibility, but again a long way from becoming a reality.

In the meantime, he says those who cannot do without utes will be paying tax so others can pay less for an EV vehicle.

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