Clean Car Standard to exclude mopeds and motorcycles

New Zealand Transport Minister Michael Wood has announced that the Clean Car Standard (CCS) will exclude mopeds and motorcycles.

Earlier this year in September, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) raised their concerns regarding the inclusion of the two-wheeled vehicles in the CCS, arguing that they shouldn’t be categorised the same as cars.

The Standard falls under the Land Transport (Clean Vehicles) Amendment Act 2022 which applies to any vehicle that weighs under 3500kg.

According to the MIA, the inclusion of mopeds and motorcycles was an error that crept into the Act when it was passed in early 2022.

Minister Wood has now confirmed that the Act has been amended to exclude mopeds and motorcycles.

MIA Chief Executive Officer, David Crawford, said the way the Act was defined “imposed a bureaucratic encumbrance on importers of mopeds and motorcycles for no outcome,”

He added that it was pointless for the importers to be required to set up a CO2 account when CCS only applies to new and used passenger and light commercial vehicle importers.

“The MIA raised this with the Minister in September when officials advised that in their view mopeds and motorcycles were caught by the Act,” Crawford added.

“The Minister agreed with industry that this was not the intention, and we are grateful he has resolved to amend the Act to make Parliament’s intention clear and unequivocal.”