Extract of a speech in NZ Parliament by Environment Minister Nick Smith
July 2, 2009:
“The last point I want to make about electric cars is that they are beautifully quiet. I have one of the Hyundai Getz electric cars, which was manufactured in Australia by Blade Electric Vehicles. The greatest danger of this car is that it cannot be heard. It is as silent as a baby. One has to be quite careful when one is around pedestrians. It is so quiet, and that is an added advantage. I also note that New Zealand is in a unique position to be able to advance electric car technology. The reason is that if someone has an electric car and the electricity that is used to charge its batteries is produced from burning coal, we are going backwards. Sure, we do not have the emissions going out the tailpipe of the car; we have it going out of the coal-fired power station. Where New Zealand is uniquely placed is that it has a higher proportion of its electricity produced from renewables than anywhere in the world. If there is any country that can get real climate change benefits and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the transport fleet, in moving to electric cars, it is New Zealand. That is why it makes good sense.”