The Greens have attacked the Government's newly-announced electric vehicle plans calling them "weak and lacklustre".

Green Party transport spokeswoman Julie Anne Genter said the package was "a lot of window dressing" as there were "no new tax breaks for electric cars."

Transport Minister Simon Bridges announced on Thursday that the Government aimed to have 64,000 electric vehicles in use in New Zealand by 2021.

SIMON MAUDE / FAIRFAX NZ Transport minister Simon Bridges, left, and Prime Minister John Key took a spin around the Auckland War Memorial Museum in a $75,000 Renault Zoe.

He said it was clear to the Government that electric vehicles were the future.

"A move from petrol and diesel to low-emission transport is a natural evolution, and it is our aim to encourage that switch sooner, rather than later," he said.

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The Government's package aimed to work closely with the private sector and local government to remove barriers it said were preventing Kiwi households and businesses from using electric vehicles.

Those barriers include the limited selection of models available, a lack of widespread charging infrastructure, and a lack of awareness about electric vehicles.

The package introduces a range of incentives to encourage Kiwi households and businesses to buy electric vehicles.

Both light and heavy electric vehicles will be removed from Road User Charges until they make two per cent of the national fleet. Bridges said the average electric vehicle owner could save $600 per year in road user charges alone.

They would also save money in fuel costs - charging an electric car was the equivalent of buying petrol at 30 cents per litre, he said.

Electric vehicles could also be allowed in bus lanes and carpool lanes.

Bridges said New Zealand was the most electric vehicle-ready country in the world.

"Electric vehicles will maximise New Zealand's renewable advantage, with more than 80 per cent of the country's electricity coming from hydro, geothermal and wind. The increased use of electric vehicles will replace petrol and diesel with clean, green, locally produced energy."

"If we start to replace New Zealand's fleet with electric vehicles, we can begin to significantly reduce our greenhouse gas emissions."

However, Genter said the policy failed to make electric cars more affordable and accessible for New Zealanders.

"The policy is actually unfair and counterproductive. Those wealthy enough to afford electric vehicles will be exempt from paying to maintain the roads we all drive on, and will be allowed to clog up bus lanes, making congestion worse in our largest cities.

Letting electric vehicles (e.v's) use special vehicle lanes like bus lanes would "hugely disrupt bus services for little gain", Genter said.

Prime Minister John Key said the Government wouldn't drop GST on e.v's to bring their cost down.

Doing so would create a precedent forcing the government to consider dropping GST on everything subject to the tax, Key said.

"Ultimately if we can build the network of [e.v] cars through the business community buying them through bulk fleets, that would flow through to the second-hand [car] market."

Mighty River Power chief executive Fraser Whineray said New Zealand had enough power capacity in New Zealand to "drive every single car as electric".

The grid had "plenty of capacity" to absorb the government's plug-in electric vehicle target, he said.

"64,000 cars is just one fifth of our new Ngatamariki geothermal power station's output."

The Government and the private sector will investigate the bulk purchase of electric vehicles.

Sustainable Business Council executive director Abbie Reynolds said her organisation had spent more than a year "co-designing" the package with government.

"What we are trying to do is find a way for the business case for e.v's stack-up for our members," Reynolds said.

The Government has pledged $1 million per year for five years to promote electric vehicles nation-wide. A contestable fund of up to $6 million per year will encourage and support the innovative electric vehicle projects.

Government agencies will coordinate and support the roll out of public charging infrastructure.