Changes to Clean Vehicle Standard made

21 August 2025

The Government is updating the Clean Vehicle Standard to give vehicle importers greater flexibility in how they meet annual CO2 targets.

The key updates are:

• starting in 2026, vehicle importers can transfer CO2 emission credits between new and used vehicles
• extending the lifespan of credits from three years to four
• enabling the ability to move away from a weight-based approach at some point in the future

The changes are being made through the Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Standard) Amendment Bill (No 2), which passed its first reading on 21 August 2025.

Read the Transport Minister's media statement here (beehive.govt.nz)(external link)