EVs could aid tourism

Electric cars could help the tourism industry improve its impacts on local communities and environments and become a renewed source of pride for New Zealand.

That’s according to Lincoln University post-doctoral researcher Dr Helen Fitt who has launched a research project studying the potential to use non-polluting EVs in tourism.

“Tourism generates a substantial amount of movement around New Zealand and now we have an opportunity to think about how we can make that movement work better for us.”

Fitt wants to hear from EV owners interested in being involved in the research.

“We want to hear about people’s experiences of using their EVs to travel around New Zealand so that we can start thinking about how to make the most of the opportunities open to us as we reboot tourism and encourage Kiwis to explore their own backyards.”

Fitt says most of the research on EV use has focused on routine trips, like commuting, particularly in urban areas.

“We have a real opportunity here to give our recovering tourism industry a spark of something new, exciting, and globally significant. It’s clearly not the only thing our tourism industry needs right now, but it might be one piece of the puzzle.”

Fitt says reductions in vehicle use during lockdown improved local air quality and generated interest in cleaner transport.

“While we’ve all been busily staying at home to save lives from COVID-19, we’ve probably also reduced deaths associated with poor air quality.”

A 2012 Health and Air Pollution in New Zealand report estimated that air pollution from traffic results in 256 premature deaths a year.

Fitt says it would make sense while working towards economic recovery to think about how we can make our transport systems better – better for health, for the environment, and for society.

“EVs won’t solve all our transport problems; they won’t fix congestion and they’re unlikely to reduce the holiday road toll, but they could make our air cleaner.”

Email helen.fitt@lincoln.ac.nz

if interested in the research project.