Transport Minister Simon Bridges is soon to hit the road in his own electric car.
Mr Bridges spoke at an electric vehicle symposium in Wellington on Monday where transport operators, funders and experts from the US, UK, Canada and Norway discussed speeding up electric vehicle (EV) uptake in New Zealand.
He's getting his Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle) next month.
"I've been keen to do this for some time because I can see electric vehicles are the future, around the world but certainly in New Zealand because we have such high renewables," Mr Bridges says.
"We're powering these vehicles with clean, green, homegrown energy rather than petroleum from overseas."
He said Tesla wasn't an option.
"Sadly they're not here in New Zealand, certainly in a wholesale way yet but watch this space."
Part of the Government's EV package included allowing EVs to drive in bus lanes, but on Monday Mr Bridges said councils will have the final say on that.
"In some cases it won't make sense because there's already capacity in the bus lanes with buses.
"I personally encourage councils to have a good think about it.
"That is the single most effective non-financial incentive you can put in place."
Five facts about the transport minister's new car:
Newshub.
