Ampol is not waiting for the federal government to implement policies to encourage the transition to electric vehicles (EV) as it seeks to use the increased bulk and expertise from its proposed $1.9 billion acquisition of Kiwi petrol retailer Z Energy to accelerate the shift.

New Zealand and many other countries have strong incentives to encourage a faster uptake of electric vehicles but the federal government has been slow to follow suit and during the 2019 election campaign said Labor’s electric vehicle sales targets would destroy the weekend and tradespeople’s livelihoods.