Delay to EV road trip start

Bad weather has delayed the start of The Leading the Charge Great EV Road Trip and has also required one diversion.

The Better NZ Trust event now begins in Taupo on March 30 after rain forced cancellation of the March 28 start in Rotorua.

The collapse due to flooding of a key bridge at Franz Josef in the South Island also means the road trip will skip an overnight stay there and instead travel from Westport to Ashburton then on to Wanaka.

“We’re just waiting for the third thing to happen,” laughs trust chairperson Kathryn Trounson, who says they’ll pack as much wet weather gear as possible in the hope they won’t need it.

She’ll be travelling with husband Greg in a Hyundai Kona Electric – one of about three EVs doing the entire 4250km trip throughout New Zealand, finishing at Cape Reinga on about April 27.

They’ll be joined by hundreds of others for part of the way, including a Britz electric camper on the Auckland to Kerikeri leg.

Visit www.leadingthecharge.org.nz or more information.