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Across the political spectrum, there's broad agreement that going electric is the right path for New Zealand to take - often for very different reasons. Many of our politicians are also in agreement, as our Political Power series continues to show, and ACT's Andrew Hoggard is already well on his way.
Speaking to Mike Casey at Fieldays, Hoggard says he doesn't have any gas coming to his home on the farm, which mostly runs on electricity (aside from the things that move, like the tractor, cars and side-by-side).
His first experience with e-bikes wasn't great because, he freely admits, they were cheap and couldn't handle life on the farm, but, as Casey says, when you live on the bleeding edge, you know a few things will break.
After a storm knocked out power to the farm for three days a few months back and the generator wasn't powerful enough to get power to the house, he decided to experiment with some cheap solar and rig up a system.
"I realise I should have read some instructions before because I've blown up a few things already."
Now he's investigating solar for the cow shed because the costs have come down so much, there's a shortage of gas that will flow into energy prices and lots of other farmers are saving - and, in some cases, making - money with it.
"It's a good level of resilience. I always prefer having more than one option."
Political Power has gone local! Dr Nick Smith, mayor of Nelson and ex-National Party minister, is an early adopter when it comes to electric machines but, through his efforts with the council and his close involvement with the Ratepayer Assistance Scheme, he's also embracing one of Rewiring's core mantras: once you've electrified your own life, electrify someone else's life, too.
Read moreDownloadWhether it's the growing number of electric buses, new electric trains for the lower North Island and City Rail Link, or new electric ferries, we love seeing more electric transport options in our big cities. It's also good to see some of our smaller cities like Palmerston North, Timaru and Nelson going electric and, as is almost always the case, the drivers reckon it's better on electrons. At the Electrify Nelson expo, we spoke with one driver Lee about the city's electric buses. And he definitely wouldn't go back to diesel.
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