Electricarna 2025 at Taupo a ‘huge success’

Between 400 and 500 people visited Electricarna at Taupo on April 5, ensuring the event was a huge success.

That’s according to organisers the Better NZ Trust, adding a Tesla Cybertruck was a major drawcard.

“The weather was wall to wall sunshine with a little breeze, the food cart Offsite – Brew and Bite kept everyone satisfied with customisable bacon sandwiches and great coffee, and many visitors admired a wide range of EVs, both old and new,” says trust chair Kathryn Trounson.

She says she marvelled at the Cybertruck’s tyre sizes – for starters.

“Tesla personnel also offered drives in either a Model 3 or a Model Y to those who had booked a slot on-line and they were very successful,” says Trounson.

“As those of us who already drive an EV know, getting new people into the driving seat of an EV is a huge step towards moving them from ICE to EV.”

Electricarna had three EV conversions – 1975 Mazda Bongo van which delivers freshly ground coffee around Rotorua, a Ford e-Ranger that moves bikes around at Mountain Bike Rotorua and a nearly completed Austin Allegro which arrived on a trailer pulled by a BYD Shark hybrid ute as it still requires certification to be road-worthy.

“However, Gavin Shoebridge happily demonstrated that the Allegro was indeed driveable using the BYD Shark’s V2L capability and a 10m long cable,” says Trounson.

“The Bongo and the e-Ranger arrived more conventionally on their own wheels – both using batteries and motors from Nissan Leaf vehicles, and the e-Ranger’s custom-made bracketry allowed the Leaf motor to be mounted to the same points that the ICE engine did, which meant no chassis changes were required.”

More conventional new EVs brought by many of the trust’s EV owners included Teslas (Models S, 3, X and Y), two Volvos – EX30 and XC40, two Polestars – a 2 and a 3, an MG4, a Ford Mustang Mach-E, a Hyundai Kona, a Ford F-150 Lightning (imported from the US and then converted from left hand drive to right-hand drive), a Nissan Leaf, a Nissan e-NV200 van and an Energica EV motorbike.

“This year we branched out to show some EV technology as well as EV vehicles,” says Trounson.

“Ned from the DriveEV workshop had a Tesla portable V2L unit, which he uses when servicing vehicles in the wild, as it were, although here he was powering an air fryer cooking chicken dinosaurs and a coolbox with ice blocks for the kids.”

“Members of the Chemistry Department at the University of Auckland demonstrated a prototype rechargeable zinc-air battery powering a scooter,” says Trounson.

“Hikotron showed their smart, flexible EV charging solutions, designed for businesses or public sites, that offer a lease package, which is essentially providing charging as a service.

“Ned also demonstrated a solar inverter that could plug directly into a Leaf battery pack,” says Trounson, adding that getting a secondhand Leaf battery is difficult as “they have so many uses and are quickly snapped up”.

The trust thanks those who brought their EVs to the Northcroft Reserve in Taupo, and says plans are afoot for the next Electricarna at the same venue.

Check the Better NZ Trust website for more information.