Figures obtained by Newshub reveal the Government has paid out more than $100 million in the clean car rebate scheme for low-emission vehicles.
The official information also shows more than $14 million has been collected by the Government from people buying high-emission vehicles.
Waikato farmer Chris Lewis is loving his new Toyota Hilux but not the added $3000 fee added on thanks to the Government's clean car rebate scheme.
"It was a big hit," he told Newshub. "Three grand in anyone's mind is a lot of money."
The scheme provides a discount of up to $8625 for low-emission vehicle imports. Fees on higher emitting vehicles help to fund the policy, which has become known in the farming community as the "ute tax".
"When you're going to spend three grand extra and then see someone down the road with a nice brand new Tesla..." Lewis told Newshub.
"It doesn't pass the Kiwi test, does it?"
Figures obtained by Newshub show 7162 fees have been collected by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency since the penalty scheme began in April, totalling $14,351,037.
But electric and hybrid vehicle sales are on the rise in New Zealand, with 57,000 registered in the first year of the clean car scheme - a 56 percent increase on the previous year.
"There was an immediate uplift in demand for those vehicles. Kiwis love discounts and love bargains, and so they started to buy them," Motor Industry Association CEO David Crawford told Newshub.
Waka Kotahi approved 19,662 clean car rebates in the year to 31 May, with $101,770,725 paid out to clean car owners.
One of them is Jill Armstrong, an Aucklander who purchased a Hyundai Kona, with an $8000 clean car discount.
"I wouldn't have purchased this vehicle if there hadn't been a rebate," she told Newshub.
Transport is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand.
Transport Minister Michael Wood says the clean car scheme is an example of the Government taking action.
"New Zealanders want us to get on with the job of tackling climate change but we can't do that without making some changes. The clean car discount scheme is an example of this, and it is working."
But with a shortage of them, he told Newshub "importers continue to work hard to access hybrid and electric utes, which are expected to enter our market in the near future".
Chris Lewis is not opposed to buying electric.
"As a country we're going a bit more greenish in where we're going but there's got to be alternatives."
As more motorists shift to electric, farmers are left to wait for affordable and practical eco-friendly options to become available.
