EV global adventurer in NZ

A Dutch adventurer who has driven across the globe in his electric vehicle is beginning the final New Zealand leg of his three-year journey.

Wiebe Wakker has driven 100,000km in his EV, from Amsterdam to Sydney, crowd-sourcing EV charging, meals and accommodation through his website Plug Me In Project along the way.

Although he completed his goal to reach Sydney in early April, he’s now exploring New Zealand in an an EV, his customised electric 2009 VW Golf station wagon shipped to Auckland this week.

“I’ve always wanted to come to New Zealand, but in my original plan I didn’t think it would be possible,” Wakker says.

“However, I received some great support to ship my vehicle over here from Sydney and I have the opportunity for a sort of encore to complete my global EV adventure.”

Wakker starts a two-month journey across both the North and South Islands, including Bluff and Cape Reinga.

He’s impressed with Kiwi’s enthusiasm for EVs, with nearly 13,700 EVs registered, and the growing charging network. Wakker will test one of Tourism Holdings Limited’s (THL) Britz EV campervans on a trip around Auckland, Coromandel and Raglan.

“It’s great to see a tourism business like THL embracing EVs.,” Wakker says. “It makes complete sense that in such a clean and green country like New Zealand tourists can make an environmentally friendly choices in the ways they travel.”

Fast chargers are at least every 75km on 90% of New Zealand’s state highway network, with three or four new stations opening every month.

“For me this final leg of my journey is a time to have some fun and explore this beautiful country by EV,” Wakker says.

“My first stop will be to unveil the new EV charging stations at DB Breweries in Otahuhu. I’m looking forward to hearing about DB’s sustainability activity and sharing my story to hopefully provide some inspiration.”

Wakker will return to Auckland for the EVworld event

August 1-3 then heads home to Haarlem near Amsterdam to write a book about his travels.

His journey in New Zealand has been made possible with the support of Proxima, THL, Ports of Auckland, DB Breweries, EECA, About Freight Worldwide and Wallenius Wilhelmsen.