Options for providing Clean Vehicle information to consumers

About the consultation

In June 2021, the Government announced its Clean Vehicle programme, in line with the advice of the Climate Change Commission, to reduce emissions from road transport and contribute to New Zealand’s efforts to transition to a net zero carbon economy by 2050.

Implementation of the programme, which consists of two complementary policies – the Clean Car Standard and the Clean Car Discount – requires legislative amendments to the Land Transport Act 1998 and various other Acts. The Land Transport (Clean Vehicle) Amendment Bill is currently being considered by Parliament.

Clean Vehicle programme(external link) — Beehive.govt release

Land Transport (Clean Vehicle) Amendment Bill(external link) — Parliament.nz

As part of the Clean Vehicle programme, Cabinet has agreed that the following information will be visible to consumers at the point-of-purchase through clear labelling on the vehicle, and through electronic labelling if the vehicle is advertised online:

• a vehicle’s CO₂ emissions in grams per kilometre
• a star rating (for the CO₂ emissions), and
• the monetary amount of any rebate or fee.

Clean car discount cabinet paper [PDF 7.7MB](external link) — New Zealand Ministry of Transport

This sets a clear expectation that consumers will have access to Clean Vehicle information at the point-of-purchase. There is currently no requirement to display this information, which means it’s the consumer’s responsibility to independently find this information for each potential vehicle purchase. There is a need to ensure consumers are provided with Clean Vehicle information at the point-of-purchase to maximise the effectiveness of the Clean Vehicle programme from its expected implementation date of 1 April 2022.

What we are consulting on

We want to hear your feedback on how Clean Vehicle information should be provided to consumers at point-of-purchase. The consultation document above has information about options that MBIE has considered and a template to complete if you would like to share your views.

If the proposed option proceeds, it will result in a change to the Energy Efficiency (Vehicle Fuel Economy Labelling) Regulations 2007.

Privacy statement

The information provided in your submissions will inform advice to Ministers. It will also become official information, which means it may be requested under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA). The OIA specifies that information is to be made available upon request unless there are sufficient grounds for withholding it.

Use and release of information

To contribute to transparency in our decision-making, MBIE proactively releases a wide range of information. MBIE will upload a summary of submissions to this website. We will not be making any individual submissions public. Should any part of your submission be included in the summary of submissions, MBIE will seek your permission to publish your information, and ensure it does not refer to any names of individuals.

When businesses or organisations make a submission, MBIE will consider that you have consented to the content being included in the summary of submissions unless you clearly state otherwise. If your submission contains any information that is confidential or that you do not want published, you can say this in your submission.

Personal information

All information you provide will be visible to the MBIE officials who are analysing the submissions and/or working on related policy matters, in line with the Privacy Act 2020. The Privacy Act 2020 includes principles that guide how personal information can be collected, used, stored and disclosed by agencies in New Zealand.

If your submission contains personally identifiable information that should not be made public, please make clear what can and cannot be made public. For example, information about other people that you are sharing without their consent or information about children.

Contacting you about your submission

MBIE officials may use the information you provide to contact you regarding your submission. By making a submission, MBIE will consider you to have consented to being contacted, unless you clearly specify otherwise in your submission.

Viewing or correcting your information

This information will be securely held by MBIE. Generally we keep public submission information for 3 years. After that, it will be destroyed in line with MBIE’s records retention and disposal policy.  You have the right to ask for a copy of any personal information we hold about you, and to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong. If you’d like to ask for a copy of your information, or to have it corrected, please contact us at energymarkets@mbie.govt.nz