The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
'I'm a bogan and I have no problem with the bastardisation of motor vehicles. You can stick whatever motor you like into whatever else you like.' Antz Davies, you are a true boganic Bright Spark and we salute you because it's the bogans that we need to be convincing! Davies is the main brain behind Watt Rods, a Lower Hutt company that converts old cars to electric. "Any and all vehicles, old or new, four wheels or two, big or small, on road or off, fully customised to your requirements."
Just like Mike Casey's electric Hilux, the electrolux, the Mitsubishi ute in this video has had a Nissan Leaf motor added. Rather than going to the scrap yard, they can give these old timers a new lease of life.
There are some who seem opposed to EVs for ideological reasons. But for the mechanically minded, EVs are awesome. There's more torque, more acceleration, more comfort and less danger to those driving them.
He admits it isn't meant to make financial sense (buy a car that was meant to be an EV from the start if you want to save money, he says), but it does make emotional sense and there's growing interest in electric retrofits.
It would certainly help if some of the rules were changed to make it easier and cheaper for more people to do these conversions because at the moment it's largely only the keen beans who have the commitment - and the capital - to do it.
Rewiring Aotearoa is in favour of universal Road User Charges as we believe it will address an artificial market distortion for vehicles that is not in New Zealand’s economic, fuel security, or resilience interests. Here's what we told the Select Committee.
Read moreDownloadThe story of Uruguay's renewable push and why it's relevant here; EVs reach a tipping point in the EU, but they're growing in developing nations, too; Tauranga Crossing and Endless Energy go vertical with a new solar install; new research shows panels keep on trucking far past their warranty periods; and if you need a hand getting out on the waves, how about getting your own electric towing machine.
Read moreDownloadOur Political Power series aims to show that going electric is good for everyone, no matter where you sit on the political sprectrum. Whether you're looking to lower costs, reduce emissions or increase resilience, it increasingly makes sense at an individual, community and country level and ACT's Todd Stephenson, who bought an electric Jeep around one year ago and built his new home in Queenstown to run on electrons, is a good example of that.
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