Electric vehicle roadshow coming to Gisborne in March
A CONVOY of electric vehicle’s (EVs) are coming to Gisborne later this month.
On March 27 from 12.30-2.30pm, a fleet of EVs will touch down as part of the Leading The Charge New Zealand road trip.
Setting off from Bluff on March 14, the convoy winds its way up the entire country, finishing at Cape Reinga.
Along the way, public events are planned to allow as many people as possible to experience an EV.
[Jonathan Rush - The Gisborne Herald - 6th March 2018]
Event will be hosted locally
A location for the event is yet to be confirmed, but it will be hosted locally by the Electric Village team. They will join the convoy in Putorino to officially open the new charging station there before driving to Gisborne.
Electric Village, an energy information and education hub, was opened last year by Eastland Group and has a number of their own EVs including a range of bikes which will be available on the day to trial.
“Anyone can come along and have a ride, go for a drive or ask any questions of the various experts, enthusiasts and owners who will be there,” said Katherine Evett, Electric Village energy champion.
“We didn’t have the necessary charging infrastructure available early last year so the roadshow was unable to travel here.
“Now we have more than five rapid charging stations across the East Coast, including one in Matawai, and two more following later this year, which is a great boost for the EV movement and the Tairawhiti district,” she said.
Around 10 vehicles heading to Gizzy in the convoy
This year there will be around 10 vehicles travelling to Gisborne in the convoy including the Hyundai IONIQ, BMW i3, a few Nissan Leafs and a number of Tesla’s. Also travelling with the roadshow is longtime EV campaigner Chelsea Sexton from the USA.
Sexton,who is an EV expert and consultant, is most well known for her role as consulting producer on the 2006 documentary film, Who Killed the Electric Car?.
The nation-wide EV charging network has over 100 rapid charging stations, with many more planned.
The rapid charging stations, which allow any customers to recharge their EV (depending on the vehicles range) within 10-30 minutes, shows an average fast charge cost of between $7-12.
Over 6000 EVs were registered with the Ministry of Transport as at December 31, 2017.
Ms Evett said people who haven’t seen an EV should come along and have a look for themselves.
“We want the community to begin to see the potential benefits both economically and environmentally from embracing this emerging technology,” she said. For more information on the Leading The Charge road trip, contact Electric Village Gisborne.
[Jonathan Rush - The Gisborne Herald - 6th March 2018]