Europcar NZ tests e-Golf in 18-hour car trip

Europcar NZ’s pure electric vehicle fleet is now available for rent to the public in Auckland and Christchurch.

The-new e-Golfs are part of Europcar NZ’s long-term sustainability strategy, a collaboration between the company, Volkswagen New Zealand, and with Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch airports.

The joint venture involved corporate travellers driving the e-Golfs on business trips free, instead of being taxied around.

Now, the general public can rent Europcar’s EVS following a thorough e-Golf test run of 1278km over five days from Auckland to Christchurch. Three are available to rent in Auckland and two in Christchurch, with five more coming by the end of this year which could see Wellington get two.

“We needed to know exactly what our clients would experience driving the electric vehicle, especially on extended trips as a major component of our customer base consists of tourists,” Europcar NZ general manager Stephen Jones says.
“We needed to be absolutely sure that our EV fleet and the e-Golf are safe above all else, reliable and convenient.

“As a motoring business, these are the three important priorities in our business and we were pleased to get the result we anticipated, which is the e-Golf proved highly successful on an extended road trip, ticking all three boxes.”

The trip showed decent charging infrastructure available in the North Island, but that further investment is needed in the South Island.

Jones says several regional hotel owners and operators have approached Europcar NZ with a keen interest in setting up charging stations.

Earlier this year, Europcar NZ won nearly $200,000 in funding under round two of the Energy
Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA) low emission vehicles contestable fund.

The company is putting the money towards charging infrastructure and marketing costs to promote EVs as vehicles of choice and significantly increase awareness around their use.

Coincidentally, the same EECA funding round approved three ChargeNet projects for fast chargers on key South Island routes.

Auto Media Group transporttalk Australia and New Zealand business manager Chris Kentsley gave one of Europcar’s new e-Golfs the thumbs-up while on a business trip in Christchurch.

Kentsley clocked up about 100km during a day’s drive on a single charge, with about half the charge left when he returned it to the Christchurch airport depot.
“It was excellent – super quiet,” he says.

“It’s convinced me to go electric.”