Motor Industry Association says release of latest data shows old cars with ineffective exhaust protection are primarily causing the problem.

SUPPORT for data showing car pollution is killing thousands of New Zealanders each year and costing the country billions of dollars has come from a sector of the industry under attack.

The voice of most new vehicle distributors, the Motor Industry Association, says the study, Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand, conducted by New Zealand experts in air quality, health, and economics highlights the main problem is emissions from older vehicles, not new product.

It says the report – which bases on data collated in 2016, so before electric cars were making tangible impact, and focuses on nitrous dioxide emissions from fossil fuelled cars - also shows more can be done to reduce harmful emissions from the current vehicle fleet.

“The main problem is caused by emissions from existing older vehicles, so focussing on the uptake of electric and low-emissions vehicles is the quickest route to improve air quality as they replace older internal combustion engine vehicles,” says MIA principal technical officer Mark Stockdale, below.

“Where that’s not feasible, the MIA would support a timely transition to higher vehicle exhaust emission standards which would help play a small part in improving air quality.”

The study found 3300 people were dying yearly because of air pollution, and it was mostly because of cars.

That meant as a whole, 10 percent of the people who died each year in the country were dying because of air pollution, Radio New Zealand says in an analysis.

Exposure was also sending more than 13,000 people to hospital for respiratory and cardiac illnesses and giving the same number of children asthma.

The social cost of these health impacts was estimated to be $15.6 billion.

The MIA says a transition needs to be managed so it does not adversely disrupt the supply of a large number of new cars, including some low-emissions models.

“Moving from Euro 5 to Euro 6 emissions standards for new petrol vehicles offers no improvement in air quality outcomes.

“While there is an improvement in air quality from moving from Euro 5 to Euro 6 for new diesel vehicles, over 60 percent of new light vehicles sold are petrol-engined,” Stockdale says.

The report was an update of one published in 2012, but for the first time, pollution data from vehicles was measured. It cites that nitrogen dioxide emission here is almost exclusively from burning petrol and diesel.

Previously, air pollution measured nationally has been attributed largely to fine pollution particles - which came from domestic fires, car brakes and industry.

Since 2016 the vehicle fleet has grown by nearly a million vehicles, up from around 720 vehicles per 1000 people in 2012 to more than 800 per 1000 today. The current national carpark estimated at more than 4.4 million vehicles.

“In the last decade, over 1.2 million used vehicles have been imported, which only needed to meet an equivalent Euro 4 emissions standard compared to Euro 5 for new cars,” Stockdale says.

“Unlike transitioning from Euro 5 to 6, there is an improvement in air quality by moving from Euro 4 to 5 so it would make sense to update the emissions standards to Euro 5 or equivalent for used imports,” Stockdale said.

“In 2021 there was a 94 percent increase in the number of new vehicles sold with some form of electrification, totalling over 25,000.

“The MIA believes the continued prioritisation of the uptake of new electric and hybrid vehicles will provide the biggest gains in reducing harmful emissions from transport,” Stockdale offered.