Read our new Electric Homes and Vehicles report
Drive Electric chair Kirsten Corson explains the significant reduction in lifetime costs from buying an EV compared to signing up for an expensive and unpredictable petrol or diesel subscription.
All those New Zealanders filling up their cars with fuel for summer roadtrips would have seen some pretty big numbers at the pump. And those numbers are set to get even bigger because the price of petrol is set to go above $3 a litre.
If history is any guide, these price increases are likely to keep happening. If you want to save some money, it's not going to make much difference shopping around for small discounts at different petrol stations. That's a bit like trying to lose weight and suggesting you only eat nine burgers a day instead of ten.
What will make a difference is shopping around for a vehicle that uses a cheaper energy source: electricity.
Using a petrol price equivalent, EVs cost around 30c a litre to charge at home using rooftop solar, or 60c a litre using electricity from the grid. Maintenance costs are also much lower.
While the price of petrol keeps going up, the price of EVs continues to fall, which makes the economic equation even better.
As Drive Electric's Kirsten Corson says, there's never been a better time to buy an EV.
When Mike Casey bought his house near Cromwell, it came with gas bottles on the side of the home for water and an expensive diesel system for the underfloor heating. He replaced both of them with a Steibel Eltron system and it's been saving him money ever since. As technical manager Bhawesh Singh told him at the Electrify Queenstown conference, there has been a big influx in enquiries from homes looking to get off the molecules and onto electrons.
Read moreDownloadConfidence that cutting regulations to make solar power more accessible - won't jeopardise people's safety. A new Regulation Ministry reports laid out a potential blueprint to legalise plug-in solar and reduce the time and cost of panel installation. Rewiring Aotearoa CEO Mike Casey shares his thoughts with Andrew Dickens.
The burgeoning demand for solar was also a chance to address a mismatch between the numbers of training opportunities available and young people searching for work, Casey said. "The mums of New Zealand are telling me that there's not enough apprenticeships for their kids and the solar installers of New Zealand are telling me there's not enough trained people."
Read moreDownload
