EV road tour gets shake up

A 5.1 earthquake rattled Taranaki as about 20 EVs assembled in New Plymouth for the second day of the Leading the Charge EV road tour of the North Island on September 27.

The first day’s trip from Auckland went without a hitch, says Kathryn Trounson of EV road trip host the Better NZ Trust.

Road works on State Highway 3, Awakino to Mt Messenger, caused slight delays – the works part of NZ Transport Agency $250 million safety improvements.

A Sunday meet was changed to a café as rain was forecast, but Trounson says about 40 people ended up chatting in the car park surrounded by an amazing array of EVs where the earthquake was felt at about 4.45pm.

She’s blogging the tour on the Leading the Charge website.

EVs on the North Island tour include the new Mini electric hatch

, a range of Teslas, several Hyundai Kona Electrics and a couple of Nissan Leafs.

They’re back on the road September 28 for the trip to Upper Hutt.

This year the road trip features separate journeys around the North Island and the South Island, both due to finish on October 3.

Sam Lynch and Robert Nicholls are taking photos of the North Island tour.