EVs at Electricarna in February

About 14 people have confirmed they’ll be bringing their EVs to New Plymouth’s Electricarna event on Sunday, February 27.

The all-day event at the East End Reserve off Nobs Line, Strandon, has been opened to hybrids and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) as well as battery electric vehicles (BEVs).

Co-ordinator Stephen Hobo-Tuck says people need to start somewhere on their EV journey and hybrids such as the Toyota Prius are good starting points.

The Better NZ Trust is behind Electricarna, along with Venture Taranaki and the New Plymouth District Council.

Several Tesla owners going to Electricarna and the associated Americarna event from February 23-26 may have a beef with the council though unless it changes its tune over a committee’s rejection of a Tesla NZ application to install three Tesla superchargers and one universal EV charger in the city.

The lease required council approval for the signing of a licence to occupy four council car parking spaces for five years with the option to renew twice, each extension being a further five years, potentially 15 years in total.

The council strategy and operations committee declined to approve the plan in principle and instead instructed council officers to investigate all options for the installation of an EV charging station for public use and report back within a year.

A video circulating of the meeting includes the shout “petrol forever” with the committee not even debating the issue.

Included in a risk analysis was the view that the public could perceive the exclusive access to Tesla drivers of council car parking as elitist.

Meanwhile, EV dealers have been invited to Electricarna with Energy City Hyundai presenting the Ioniq 5 and The Car Man (aka Phil Brown) bringing a Nissan Leaf, probably a 62kWh Model X.

Hobo-Tuck says EVs there will range from VW e-Golfs to Tesla Model 3s.