Electric Loop EV Festival postponed 

The inaugural Electric Loop EV Festival planned for January 28 and 29 on the Coromandel Peninsula has been postponed as a result of bad weather.

Many roads along the 222km loop drive for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) have been affected by the heavy rain, with a new date yet to be set, says co-organiser EWI Energy director Jonathan Ewing.

Plans for mobile charging with back up batteries and cabling to three-phase points along the route would have been perilous in the flooded conditions, he explains.

He says a “core” group did make it to Coromandel as conditions deteriorated, with the LDV eT60 electric right-hand drive ute proving popular with onlookers and towing a car on a double-axle Futura Trailers aluminium trailer from Coromandel Peninsula back to the city.

Numerous Polestar 2s, including the pace car, managed uncomfortable road conditions, mudslides and flooded valleys, and made it through to base camp, Ewing says.

But the “wolf pack” of Tesla Ss, the Porsche Taycan, Jaguar i-Pace, Audi e-tron, Hyundai Ioniq and others stayed home in garages, he adds.

Catering organised for some of the festival side activities was instead diverted to a Coromandel township cafe to help feed some of the many people stranded there by the rain.

Ewing says they still managed to raise a good amount for the festival’s National Heart Foundation of New Zealand charity.

Warnings about the weather and roads were issued by the Thames-Coromandel District Council as mayor Len Salt ditched plans to drive the first stage to deal with the unfolding weather drama, including the complete washout of 25A, the Kopu to Hikuai road.

It could be some time before roads in the area are ready to run the festival, but Ewing and crew are planning to set a new date accordingly.

He says interest remains keen with more expected on board, adding the festival’s main impetus is to encourage EV uptake, dissipate range anxiety and improve infrastructure.