EVs go the distance

You’re wrong if you think you can’t go places in an electric vehicle (EV).

So says Flip the Fleet, a coalition of more than 1150 New Zealand EV owners, after its latest data shows EVs are actually driven further each year than internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

The annual average distance travelled across all models of EVs is 14,100km a year, a quarter more than the 11,500km a year for ICE vehicles.

“Our trust provides test drives to let people experience what a joy EVs are to drive,” The Better New Zealand Trust chairwoman Kathryn Trounson says. “This data shows that the switch to electric cars also saves them money while reducing New Zealand’s carbon footprint.”

Even the very earliest Nissan Leaf model with a small battery is travelling more than the average for ICE vehicles.

The average single trip away from base and back again in a New Zealand EV is 48km.

Yet the NZ Transport Agency estimates the combined distance of all the day’s trips in an ICE vehicle averages only 28km. One of the 30kWh Leafs contributing to the Flip the Fleet data base is travelling 45,000km annually.

“The data well and truly busts the myth that EVs aren’t a practical substitute for a conventional car,” Trounson says.

The higher average distance travelled by EVs doesn’t surprise Flip the Fleet researchers.

“Many EV owners also retain one of their old combustion vehicles as back-up, but then concentrate most of the family’s travel in the EV to save money and enjoy a better ride,” statistician Daniel Myall says.

“Families often run a simple rule. Whoever is going furthest that day gets to take the EV. That way the EV becomes the family workhorse and the household’s transport costs and transport emissions are minimised,” he says.

“EVs are particularly good for people with a reasonably long commute to work. We think some people are doing the sums and realising that even though a typical EV costs more to buy, they can quickly regain that through avoided petrol costs.”

Flip the Fleet estimates a commuter doing a 100km round trip to work five days a week is saving $90 a week in fuel and maintenance costs.

Recent petrol price hikes are helping boost that.

Plug-in hybrid the Mitsubishi Outlander averaged 19,000km annually – the furthest of any EV model reporting to Flip The Fleet.

At the lower end was the Nissan e-NV200, the only readily available second-hand electric van for light commercial use in New Zealand so far. Its average annual travel is just 9400km.

“The next big breakthrough we are look forward to is an inexpensive light commercial electric van that can travel a decent distance with a heavy load of passengers or gear on board,” Myall says.

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