MIA backs emissions action
The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has welcomed the release of the updated Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand (HAPINZ) report, which points to increasing the uptake of electric and low-emissions vehicles.
Mark Stockdale, the MIA’s principal technical adviser, says the HAPINZ report shows more can be done to reduce harmful emissions from the current fleet.
“The main problem is caused by emissions from existing older vehicles, so focusing on the uptake of electric and low-emissions vehicles is the quickest route to improve air quality as they replace older internal combustion engine vehicles,” he says.
“Where that’s not feasible, the MIA would support a timely transition to higher vehicle-exhaust emission standards, which would help play a small part in improving air quality.”
The MIA says a transition needs to be managed so it doesn’t adversely disrupt the supply of a large number of new cars, including some low-emissions models.
“Moving from Euro 5 to Euro 6 emissions standards for new petrol vehicles offers no improvement in air-quality outcomes,” adds Stockdale, pictured.
“While there is an improvement in air quality from moving from Euro 5 to Euro 6 for new diesel vehicles, more than 60 per cent of new light vehicles sold are petrol-engined.”
Since the last updated HAPINZ report was published in 2012, the vehicle fleet has grown by nearly one million units, up from around 720 per 1,000 people in 2012 to more than 800 per 1,000 today.
Stockdale says: “In the past decade, over 1.2 million used vehicles have been imported, which only needed to meet an equivalent Euro 4 emissions standard compared to Euro 5 for new cars.
“Unlike transitioning from Euro 5 to 6, there’s an improvement in air quality by moving from Euro 4 to 5 so it would make sense to update the emissions standards to Euro 5 or equivalent for used imports.
“In 2021, there was a 94 per cent increase in the number of new vehicles sold with some form of electrification, totalling over 25,000.
“The MIA believes the continued prioritisation of the uptake of new electric and hybrid vehicles will provide the biggest gains in reducing harmful emissions from transport.”
