Electricarna in Taupo April 5

A big EV event run by the Better NZ Trust, Electricarna is at the Northcroft Reserve in Taupo on Saturday April 5, 2025, from 10am to 2pm.

A Tesla Cybertruck will be displayed, while test drives are offered in a refreshed Tesla Model 3 and Model Y, says the Better NZ Trust chair Kathyrn Trounson.

A Ford F-150 Lightning is also expected to be displayed.

Taupo-based Drive EV’s Steve Greenwood will have EVs and a vehicle-to-load (V2L) demonstration at Electricarna which the Better NZ Trust says has moved from New Plymouth after it couldn’t get the same site there it’s had for years.

“We originally had been allowed to be an ‘add-on’ to the huge ‘Americana’ event, celebrating vehicles which are loud, fuel propelled and have a steering wheel on the left-hand side,” says the Better NZ Trust on its website.

“We had made Electricarna an event in its own right in the last three years in New Plymouth, but this year the NPDC (New Plymouth District Council) could not offer us the same location and appeared indifferent to helping us,” it says.

Taupo is a more central location, says the trust, adding that Gavin Shoebridge will be showing his EV conversion Austin Allegro to the public, and will bring it to the event on a trailer pulled by an electrified ute.

Refreshments will be available at Electricarna Taupo.