The case for energy loans: read our latest explainer
When it comes to increasing EV adoption, the people in the car yards can be very influential. There are always a lot of questions to answer and a lot of misperceptions to confront and Cordt Bensemann from Eastwood Motor Group has been doing that in the Wairarapa.
Kia is one automotive brand that has embraced the electric future and it continues to release new models into the market, from a rare seven seater to the smaller SUVs with big ranges. While it can be a big leap for some, those who have gone electric generally love it. They find the EVs easy to use, quiet, quick and cheaper to run.
He has never had anyone buy an EV and come back for an ICE car and the research shows that's the norm, with over 90% of buyers sticking with electrons.
As Mike Casey, a very happy Kia EV9 owner says: "Once you have them, they're pretty sticky."
Everyone is rocking on down to Electric Avenue today (this one online, not that other small one in Hagley Park in Christchurch), so let's ride the lightning: profits and electricity prices keep going up, as panels keep going down; a new paper puts a number on how much more homes with solar sell for; we're bottling things up with big and small batteries and they are eating into gas in Australia and California; transport emissions drop across the Tasman as a result of Government EV incentives, while HEB Construction electrifies its fleet; electrons are coming from above in China; and Xpeng announces the arrival of a crazy looking electric van/aircraft carrier.
Read moreDownloadWarren G and Nate Dogg said it best when they said: 'Regulators, mount up!' - and this week, they have.In a rare joint open letter, three different regulators - EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority), the Commerce Commission and the Electricity Authority - have basically told the lines companies to pull their socks up and make the most of ‘non-network solutions’ (AKA stop building more expensive poles and wires and start looking at customers and new technology as part of the solution!).
Read moreDownload"The LNG announcement from earlier this month has set the stage: electricity, and the energy sector more broadly, is set to be a major election issue this year. Casey has compared electricity to telecommunications, an area where services have become much cheaper in the last decade with technology advancing. “There are supply challenges for the grid and natural gas, and increasing pressure to find sustainable alternatives as reliance on fossil fuels becomes less viable,” he wrote in a Newsroom piece earlier this month, heralding the “electric election”.
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