This Car Can ...

EV owners love what their cars can do. And they can do a lot these days. Whether it’s an old Nissan Leaf that cost a couple of grand and can take care of the daily duties, a new Polestar that can go the length of the North Island on one charge, a Zeekr that can plug in to a two-way charger and power a home, or a fleet of company EVs that can cut your costs and help you meet emissions targets, there are so many good stories to tell about electric vehicles and so many features of these new technologies that are worth promoting.

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This Car Can... is a campaign celebrating the real stories of everyday New Zealanders who have already made the switch to electric vehicles in the hope it inspires more people to follow suit.

There’s a lot of talk about what electric vehicles can’t do and plenty of myths and misperceptions that might stop people from upgrading. But the people who actually own EVs? They’re overwhelmingly sold.

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There are now almost 100,000 full EVs running on New Zealand-made energy and they make even more sense as fuel prices keep rising and the world becomes more unstable.

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We want existing owners to share their electric enthusiasm with those who may be on the fence so that more New Zealanders get to experience the economic, energy security and environmental benefits of running on cheap local electrons rather than on expensive foreign fuels.

The car is charged and ready to go every morning. For the few long trips we have taken, we have never had to stop longer than a typical lunch stop.

We have been a fully electric family for well over two years. Our two electric cars have fitted seamlessly into our normal provincial New Zealand lifestyle. We simply haven't had any drama: No long journeys that we couldn't take, no waiting for charges, no expensive maintenance, no petrol stations.... Our cars are just vehicles that do their job efficiently, safely and comfortably.

5 kWh for a 20 litre batch, if you really wanted to know.

We ditched the gas guzzling vehicle for an EV in 2018. All in all about $50,000 after being electrified for 7 years. We're getting the largest savings from the EV.

The job description. We needed a car that could fit surfboards, kids, gear and has enough range to drive up and down the Taranaki coast comfortably. My husband liked his Hyundai Kona (ICE) and I wanted an EV. The Kona EV was a win-win! My kids were skeptical but we all LOVE the torque soooo much.

1 EV, 1 ICE, the EV ends up being the only vehicle we use as a family, even on the big journeys across the country, fully loaded with bags, summer adventure gear and the longboards on the roof! I'm starting to feel very sorry for the ICE sat there gathering dust, and our next vehicle will definitely be EV. There's really no downside.

This is our last big road trip in 'Squirrel' before we reluctantly upgraded to our new electric van last year.
glover.gen.nz/wordpress/otago-2022-a-winter-roadtrip

2500kms in August, battling wind, snow, freezing nights and a range of just 80 km.

Our only family car is a 2017 Nissan Leaf, a great round town car for all four of us. We supplement this with a road bike, an ebike, trains and buses. We've not got a fancy charger, just a three point plug near the carport. The only maintenance costs so far have been tyres and a yearly check. This is our second Leaf after an unfortunate incident involving a bus running a red light. Luckily we lived to tell the tale and bought another with the insurance money because we love it so much. We've been fully EV for seven years and can confirm you won't regret it!

Even in the winter, my monthly costs only reach up to about $130. This covers the energy for both my home and two electric vehicles.

We live semi-rural and often have power cuts. In Dec 2023, a month after buying our car, we had a power cut on the morning of my daughter's birthday, just as my husband was using the mixer to make fluffy pancakes for her. It was our first opportunity to try out the V2L and it worked perfectly. I have a video of my husband standing on the driveway, with the mixer plugged into the car, whipping up the pancakes, laughing his head off at the brilliance of it all. This is definitely not the only time we have used the V2L. In fact we have used it numerous times during small power cuts and the very best thing is, it can power our water pump - which is just incredible as we can continue flushing the toilet, and using the taps. Oh and in addition, we have used the V2L to power/charge our mobile phones etc when going camping. Absolutely love our EV and recommend them to everyone.

Not a big deal you may rightly say, as most modern EVs do much more, but it does this on the electrical energy equivalent of just 5 litres of petrol ! (1 litre of petrol = approx 10 kWh of electrical energy). How far would a petrol/diesel car get on 5 litres of fuel?

Our switch to EVs followed a 5-day rental holiday three years ago where we realised how good it was - smooth, quiet, effortless to drive, easy to charge and cheaper to own.

As for the EV, we love it and could never go back to petrol. We even took our car when travelling to the South Island earlier this year to avoid having to hire a fossil-fuel powered rental car down there.

We feel proud for contributing to less fossil fuel use, and we love driving the EV - it is very quiet and peppy. Our next vehicle will definitely be an EV.

Our car is our cost-effective resilience lifeline...

We live rurally in Hawke's Bay and were without power for just under five days following Cyclone Gabrielle. Sadly for us, we didn't have an EV or a battery attached to our solar at that time. This meant that we didn't have running water, couldn't flush the toilet or keep the fridge/freezer running.

As a result, we got used to boiling our drinking water, trying not to get food poisoning and became overly familiar with buckets of pure evil...

If the same event happened today, our EV could easily power all of those vital things for a week with no problem, even if the sun didn't shine.

During normal times, the EV also saves us a bunch of cash in fuel costs. We drive about 350km each week for work, and the home solar provides most of the energy at a fraction of the cost of grid supplied electricity.

We love our EV and there is no way we will ever be changing back to petrol.

Across a 500km road-trip from Christchurch to Queenstown (6hrs of driving), we spend less than 30mins charging over 2 stops. Just enough time to quickly walk the dog, head to the bathroom ourselves and usually the vehicle is finished charging before the takeaway coffee is served! The car is almost always ready to get back on the road before we are!

I have one EV and would definitely get another one. We’ve got one EV and one ICE. At the time, “best of both worlds” felt like a smart move… not entirely sure what problem I thought I was solving. Maybe the comfort of having a tank full of petrol “just in case” of… something? A year in, I can’t find a single real downside to the EV. 500km range, fast charging is quick enough that it’s never been an issue, way nicer to drive, range anxiety hasn’t happened once. Meanwhile the ICE car just sits there at the end of the driveway like it’s waiting for a purpose. We’ll almost definitely go fully EV next. Only hold-up is finding one that can handle a 9ft surfboard inside it - that’s the real bottleneck

When the power is out at our house, we can switch our distribution board to auxiliary power (disconnected from the grid), and we can run all lights, power sockets, fridge, freezer, microwave, toaster, kettle, and water pump for our house by connecting a V2L lead from our Kia EV6. It provides 3.2kW of power, so as long as we don't turn everything on at once, we're good for a few days if needed.

The EV is in all respects a better vehicle than the vehicle it replaced, and it had a similar new purchase cost. In the last 2 years we have only used a public charge station 12 times. The rest of the charging has been done at home utilising 3 hours of free power 9pm to midnight, plus solar surplus.

Hauling a caravan 1600kms from Adelaide to Newcastle via The Grampians (~760m) and Canberra (~580m) was no problem, so the 1000km from Cape Reinga to Wellington via routes 32 and 41 to Türangi (max elevation ~800m) should be no trouble.

I am a car nut and have worked in the automotive industry my entire life and still do. I still love old school cars and big V8’s for their sound and presence etc but my Tesla just can’t be beat on pretty much all factors. It is super powerful, gets better overtime with over-the-air updates, is incredibly safe (one of the safest on the road!) easy to use and i spend less time powering it than I do my diesel work truck, most of the powering/charging happen when I’m at home doing other more important things. And on road trips I generally stop every three hours for a stretch/toilet stop anyway so I get enough charge to carry on then. Running costs are crazy cheap. $15 to fully charge at home and that gets me 300kms of open road driving easily. More around town. It’s done 70000kms and all I’ve had to replace are a set of tyres and a cabin air filter, no servicing costs at all. Seriously, for 99% of car users there is NO downside!

I’ve taken my Kia EV6 to the Wairoa Gorge Bike Park, Nelson loaded with four mountain bikes.

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We bought our EV6 in 2022....Basecamp4 caravan July 2023. We Live Central Otago. We have toured the North Island each year...over 5 weeks away on each trip. The first trip was North as far as the Coromandel. Second road trip around the Wairarapa and lower Hawkes Bay. We also spend a month touring the top of the South Island. We can only travel 1/2 the distance towing the caravan on a charge. Only other slight disadvantage - many charging stations are situated in tight corners of Supermarkets so we need to park up and delink the caravan. A bit of exercise during a long time is often very welcome. We have found many camping grounds will let us charge for free overnight but some charge 10 to 20 dollars. We have found two camping grounds with slow chargers on site. We have not so far seen any other electric cars towing a caravan. We would love to see more. Happy travels.

I recently drove Lincoln to Punakaiki and arrived with 35% charge. Charged to full while having morning tea on the day I left. Drove home, through Arthur’s Pass and up Otira Gorge and arrived with 40% battery. No range anxiety and powered through the mountain passes.

Honestly, driving an EV is just fun. Beyond the drive itself, I've really enjoyed watching the numbers. There is a real sense of satisfaction in seeing exactly how little energy we actually need to import from the grid.

My Gen 1 Leaf has been from Glenorchy to Dargaville. Did Palmerston North to Auckland and return through Tauranga this week, all on the CHAdeMO public charging stations. No worries!

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Power charges are down to a third of what I'd been paying, and this includes charging my EV. As the EV has few moving parts maintenance costs are negligible, so there's an extra saving.

We have travelled about 100,000km in the two vehicles, going from about 8L/100km to 13kWh/100km in the Ioniq and then 18kWh/100km in the Polestar, which saw about $20k of petrol replaced with about $4k of electricity.

This is our third EV. Started with a BMW i3 in USA in 2015 - idealcity car. In NZ we bought an MgZS ev - gave us more range but was an early model so a little limited.
The Volvo is outstanding, fast to charge, sufficient range to get us to get us from Auckland to Wellington with a single stop (30 minutes). European comfort and driving smarts. We love it.

Apart from saving me a lot of money on petrol and maintenance costs. my car can pre-cool the cabin remotely so that I never have to get into a hot car on sunny days. My car also has "Dog Mode" where I can safely leave my dogs for a short time while I pop into the supermarket on my way home from a walk. The car sets a comfortable 19 - 21 degrees for the dogs to be in. With my app I can check on the dogs through the car's in-cabin camera to check they're ok (they're always just sleeping). I come back to happy dogs every time!

My BYD Atto can go from Alexandra to Wellington in one day on two 30 min charges (over coffee and over lunch) whilst carrying three people and three bikes. Total fast charging cost $85!

Had four different lNissan Leafs, each with a bigger battery and had a small solar array and battery. Then we got the MG 4 which is exciting to drive and can travel further on one charge than our bladders can last and we put a decent solar array and battery system on the house. We can fill up for free for local trips from our solar panels and it whizzes us and our two e-bikes to a Northland holiday. Woo hoo!!! We LOVE it!

Last year my EV powered the home for 5 days. Clutha District lost cell towers and grid electricity. Having power at home meant the fridge and freezer worked, we had hot water, and hot food, we also had fibre surprisingly because all it needed was power. We used almost 50 kWh of electricity from the car battery.

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We share biscuits with all the kind people who stop to help us when they see the bonnet up.

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I have a Signenstor with a two way 12.5kw DC charger. When I bought it was going one way (charging the EV). However as promised Sigenstor did a software update and after entering the few bits of information the two way charger now works. So now I have 8kwh fixed battery and 50.4 kwh (I stop EV battery usage at 20% remaining) extra by just plugging the EV in.

I cooked toasted sandwiches using V2L in the middle of Riverhead Forest for a mate who was running a Backyard Ultra. He said it was the best toasted sandwich he'd ever had that was cooked by a car.

We pepped up the front load cargo bike with 48V worth of Nissan Leaf batteries. It can now easily ride into town, make coffee and waffles for a few hours (same batteries) and come home with a tonne of charge left. 3kWh on a bike takes you a long way.

We love our BYD. It's three years old and done over 100k now. We use it for commuting, camping, towing, holiday trips and powering the house during outages. We've had one puncture, but other than that it's not missed a beat! We're never going back to ICE. The only thing it's missing is a fake engine noise app, that would be fun to play with!

Everything about this car has redefined what a "normal" car is in my mind... it has so many features that luxury cars don't even have, it's hard to know where to start... but here's an attempt. This car can: 1. Charge off the solar panels on my rooftop 2. Drive itself 3. Predict where I'm going and automatically put it in my navigation 4. Open and lock with my phone in my pocket – never have to carry a key again 5. Heat and cool the car to perfect temperature before I get in it 6. Get me from Bluff to Christchurch (600km) with one 25 min stop for lunch and one 15 minute stop for coffee (two short charges over 8 hours of driving) 7. See where oncoming cars are on the road and continuously adapt headlights automatically 8. Save me over $4,000 a year in combined fuel and maintenance costs in comparison to my previous Audi A4 Once you go EV, you never go back! Better on every single metric.

We took advantage at the end of 2023, just before the government EV support ran out, to buy a new, very much discounted EV ute. And we have never looked back. Although it's a two-wheel drive, this ute's traction is excellent, even on our rather steep gravel driveway, probably due to the battery weight spread evenly under the whole vehicle. We have no issue whatsoever with towing a trailer (total weight one ton including say a pallet of potting mix) up our steep driveways. The driving is very comfortable and I've matured enough not feeling the need anymore at traffic lights to leave a Ford Ranger behind. We can deliver most seedlings to customers in Thames, Auckland and in Raglan (which involves a 260km drive in total) and it's much cheaper than when using our diesel truck.

I love vintage and classic cars... and here I am with a battery electric car. Depreciation doesn't worry me - I pick a vehicle I like and keep it a long time and look after it. Seeing a video of a nail from a nail gun being driven into a BYD battery and not exploding into flames was my tipping point for looking seriously at a BEV. I have a noisy job and it is so nice having an everyday car that is so quiet and completely vibration free. It is so nice to avoid going to the petrol station - using the slow charger at home works so well. It is so nice not to worry about the inefficiency of ICE engines while they are warming up. I like the driving experience - as much as driving my old manual classic car, but in a different way.

Well, the nonsense peddled by the oil lobby include that EVs can't tow. We are 5500km into a 10 week holiday from the Bay of Islands in the North, to Queenstown in the South, towing our caravan. Zero issues charging, with one sub-5 minute wait being the only inconvenience.
Since 2019 have driven EV, it's so much more comfortable, quiet, powerful, and convenient. No, the time it takes to charge is hardly relevant because most everyday use means plugging in and walking away. Or sub 10 seconds out of one's life, and no trips to the stinky fuel bowsers (didn't notice it pre EV).
Everything in our household runs on electricity now - including BBQ - most from rooftop solar with grid for the rest.

My household made the switch in the early days (2017), when the first generation of the Hyundai Ioniq EV was the only available new EV in Aotearoa New Zealand. We had installed rooftop solar six months prior and were hoping for some savings, compared to our previous car (a Toyota Prius petrol hybrid), but we didn't expect it to be that much. For the last eight and a half years we've driven 45,000km and spent a total of $183 at rapid chargers, which translates to 41 cents or roughly 0.15 litres of diesel (at current prices) per 100km. Most of our "fuel" electricity so far has been free, either from our own rooftop solar or (during the first few years) free EV chargers that our lines company Northpower provided. Currently the largest cost component of our EV are the road user charges that were introduced two years ago. In a world where we continue to vote in favour of an economic system where money is everything, it is puzzling that not more of us have made the switch. We complain about council rates and the price of butter, but we're only too happy to pay three to six times more for personal transport than we need to, and to fund some sheik's lavish lifestyle or warlord's wet dreams in the process.

I noticed that one of my favourite features of my EV isn't in your list on the This Car Can section of the site. Using the app, I can turn on the A/C system and set the temperature in the car a couple of minutes before I head down to the garage or while I'm walking back to my parking place. Toasty warm or a cool haven whenever I want it. Amazing what can happen when your heating and cooling isn't dependent on a fire burning in the front of the vehicle!

We charge the EVs off solar during the day or overnight on off-peak rates, costing about $4 per full charge and saving us thousands every year. With charging costing so little, road user charges have actually become our biggest running expense.

Bought a Kia niro phev five years ago and loved it as 90% of its running was electric, yet we had the the reassurance of a petrol engine for when the charge was exhausted. After five years the range of EVs was enough for us to sell the hybrid and buy a fully electric Kia Niro. We would never go back to a petrol vehicle now. The EV is so quiet, so fast, so smooth, and of course so economical.

We've swapped one then both cars to electric. The electric vehicles are saving us about $1,800 per year since road user charges began. We find we're more inclined to go away on road trips, knowing the cost of travel is low.

By putting a timer on our hot water cylinder, we heat our water when the sun shines or at night when the price is low. The same applies to charging our EV.

Bought new, done over 130K now. The battery, motor and drive train have not changed one bit during that distance, and coming up seven years. Have used public charging stations just 22 times so far. Had to just sit and wait while it topped up only once; it was raining at the time! At 200 horse power it is by FAR the gruntiest car I have ever owned; my wife says it brings out the hoon in me! It does, too, despite my being in my 80's. And I feel disgustingly smug every time the price of petrol goes up! Cheers!

After installing solar, we purchased an EV, which became our only car for our family of four. We love the savings made from solar and an EV, which means we have additional money to invest in other areas of our lives.

I used my EV vehicle-to-load to run a cement mixer last year at a construction site and concreted 12 x 3M posts into the ground.

We have paid a bit more than $114 in total for 'fuel electricity' at ChargeNet rapid charger stations since October 2017, after driving more than 41,000 km.

Powering your caravan from your EV using V2L (Vehicle to Load).

7 years ago with a 220km range EV we travelled about 4,500 km on a road trip around the South Island and there were fewer chargers then than now. A bit more careful planning was required. This year another South Island road trip in a 430km range car and it was great. No charging hassles or range anxiety and yes we can hook up a fridge or microwave/jug/electric frying pan if we want to from our car battery.

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When I hear people drone on about what electric vehicles can't do, I experience a mix of bemusement and frustration. More often than not, those folks know little or nothing about EVs and probably haven't driven on ridden in one. On top of that, the information that they use to try to bolster their specious arguments is either incomplete or outdated. Btu I don't like to focus on negatives. My own experiences as an EV enthusiast and owner have been positive have reinforced what EVs can do. I own a 2023 MG4; the 51 KWh model. Not the most advances EV on the market, even when it was new. It's more of an EV for the masses and not the classes -- something New Zealand's Minister of Finance doesn't seem to understand exists. What can this car do? It carries me and my family between points A & B quickly, comfortably, capably, and without spewing noxious fumes into the air. While NZ's public charging network isn't yet on the level of other countries, it's still pretty good. On longer trips, it's easy to find a charger. If I can't readily do that, I have a couple of apps on my phone that help me find one. My car isn't the largest one on the road, but when we take longer road trips it's big and comfortable enough for three adults, a 40 kg black Labrador (who loves riding in the car because it's quiet), and our knapsacks. It also handles the weekly shop and the occasional trip to the DIY store quite well. Like the garages of many an older Kiwi home ours doesn't have an electrical connection. Instead of relying on long extension cords leading from the house, I can use the car's Vehicle to Load (V2L) function to power a vacuum, a steam cleaner, a pressure washer, and other small electrical devices. My ICE vehicle driving neighbours are constantly amazed at what V2L can do. My car can do a lot more than that, too. Really, it's just a viable alternative to comparable ICE vehicles. Its fun to drive and runs on sustainably-generated power rather than burning imported hydrocarbons, which makes it better for me and for the environment.

We’re just about to tick over 100,000km in our first EV (Kia EV6), plus another ~20,000km in our EV van. Real-world range for us has been around 380km and 270km respectively — which comfortably covers 90% of what we do.

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2nd hand EV meets all our round town needs, plus can get from Dunedin to Ranfurly on one charge: life is good. Bought with 1% green loan from bank. Charging with free power on Sundays (shop around the retailers, folks). Payback in 3 years (including RUCs). Would never go back to an ICE vehicle.

The savings have been massive - we've saved roughly $50,000 so far. We save about $5,000 per year on each of our two cars.

It has surprised me that after all warnings to expect range reduction over time, that I can still charge to well over 420km, the range having started at 455km over five years ago. Seems my intention to buy a car that will still be useful at 50% range was misplaced and this may occur around the same time as the car body itself wears out! Can possibly then repurpose the battery as a home storage system.

We love EVs because they’re kinder on your wallet. Cheaper energy, fewer moving parts, and lower lifetime costs.

Charging at home via the grid at off-peak rates costs about $1.50/L equivalent - and most people just use a standard three-pin plug. Rooftop solar pushes this even lower.

No oil changes, no exhaust system, no clutch or spark plugs. Hundreds of dollars saved every year.

Running on New Zealand-made energy made economic sense before the fuel crisis kicked off and it makes even more sense now that fuel prices have gone through the roof. You could shop around and get slightly cheaper petrol or diesel, but history suggests the price will keep going up. As this live price tracker shows, the best bet is to go electric and, if you can, run on the sun.

Much less noise and vibration. Smooth, instant acceleration with no gear changes. No exhaust fumes improving air quality in our neighbourhoods.

Nearly 90% of NZ’s electricity is renewable. An EV here emits up to 90% less CO₂ per km. Even factoring in manufacturing, 60% fewer lifetime emissions.

Regenerative braking recovers energy while stopping or going downhill. One-pedal driving means your brakes barely wear out.

Despite the media attention on EV fires, petrol cars are around 20 times more likely to catch fire. No flammable fuel tank means a fundamentally safer vehicle.

Vehicle-to-Load lets you power kettles, fridges, power tools — great for camping and trade work. And with two-way charging you will soon be able to use your car to run your home or feed back into the grid.

Modern batteries have a 15–20 year lifespan and around 80% capacity after a decade. There are warranties of 8 years / 160,000km. And around 95% of battery materials can be recovered and reused.

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EVs save you money

Run on the sun, not the pump.

More reasons to love EVs

Quieter and smoother

60% fewer emissions

‘Free fuel’

Much safer

Power on the go

Batteries built to last

Support us

EVs save you money

Run on the sun, not the pump.

More reasons to love EVs

Quieter and smoother

60% fewer emissions

‘Free fuel’

Much safer

Power on the go

Batteries built to last

Support us

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