Dunedin aims for EV record

Electric vehicle (EV) owners in Otago are invited to help set a New Zealand record for the largest number of plug-in cars in the same place at the same time.

Christchurch holds the record with 103, but Otago event organiser Pam McKinlay aims to attract the owners of more than 200 EVs to the record attempt at the harbourside car park at Forsyth Barr Stadium on September 10, reports the Otago Daily Times.

Otago was second in New Zealand behind Auckland in having the highest number of EVs registered per 1000 people, with more than 240 EVs in the region.

The event is part of Dunedin’s Great Big EV Day Out gala on September 10, coinciding with International Drive Electric Week. There will be a record attempt from 11am as well as a group photo of the EV park-up.

Information booths will allow attendees to discuss range and connectivity questions, and EVS will be available to test drive. Nine different models will be there, as well as New Zealand’s oldest electric car still in use, a 1904 Baker Electric.

More than 4200 plug-in electric vehicles are registered in New Zealand, with a government target of 64,000 registered by 2021.