Cheap, green vehicles are taking off overseas. Why are they banned here?

Despite our emissions crisis and congestion problems, the world’s bestselling and cheapest EVs aren’t allowed on our roads, reports The Spinoff. And the transport minister says that’s not changing any time soon. If the world’s most popular EV – the Wuling Hongguang Mini EV – was available in Aotearoa and attracted the clean car discount, you could pick one up for less than the price of an e-bike. The Wuling is currently in a grey zone with a Waka Kotahi spokesperson saying it would probably also be classed as a quadricycle. However, a Lithuanian-produced model of the Wuling recently went on sale in Europe as a fully-fledged motorway-capable car – and European safety regulations are every bit as stringent as New Zealand’s.