Sparks fly as Tesla offer rejected

Tesla owners are incensed that the New Plymouth district council has turned down an application by Tesla NZ to install three Tesla super-chargers and a universal EV charger in the New Plymouth CBD.

“To see Tesla NZ’s offer…turned down is a slap in the face to these New Zealanders who are embracing the electric future of transport,” says the Tesla Owners’ Club of New Zealand.

“The Tesla super-charger stations which were offered would have enabled Tesla owners to charge at speeds of up to 250kW.

“And the universal EV charger would have doubled the city’s fast-charging capabilities for all EVs, while also reducing the reliance Tesla owners have on the existing (50W charger in New Plymouth).

“The decision to turn down this offer appears to fly in the face of the Purpose of Local Governmen” as noted in the (council’s) meeting agenda where the decision was made,” the club adds.
That purpose is to “promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of communities in the present and for the future”.

The club says that if Tesla’s offer had been accepted the chargers would have given EV owners greater ability “to venture to New Plymouth to see friends, family, and to spend money in the area.

“One can even see there are cultural benefits, with the Tesla Owners Club of New Zealand already having planned a visit to New Plymouth to join in Americarna, a celebration of American car culture.

“This decision by the council will certainly put a number of owners off attending this event, or visiting New Plymouth in general, until the EV charging facilities within the city are improved.”

The Tesla Owners’ Club is calling on the council to “do the right thing by ratepayers, and by New Zealand as a whole, by supporting this initiative and enabling a faster transition to an environmentally sustainable, electric future”.