Vicki Buck treated to vintage EV ride

EV City’s Dave Boot took EV advocate Vicki Buck on a ride in a 116-year-old EV through the Christchurch Botanic Gardens on her last day as a Christchurch city councillor as a thank you.

Buck opted not to contest the October local body elections after first entering the council in 1975 as a 19-year-old – the youngest councillor at the time.

She was mayor from 1989 to 1998, left and then returned as deputy mayor in 2013 and stayed on as Riccarton councillor, Catherine Chu winning the seat in the latest elections which also saw EV supporter mayor Lianne Dalziel returned.

Buck officially opened EV City on April 6 last year.

“We asked Vicki to officiate as she has been so instrumental in the city council’s move to electrify their fleet, and encouraging Canterbury businesses to adopt electric vehicles,” Boot says.

“In a previous life the first EV I sold was to Vicki, and so as her last day in office loomed we arranged a special treat combining Vicki’s love of EVs and her love of the botanic gardens.

“We gained special permission to drive her through the gardens on a lunch date with the gardens’ director and friends.”

Boot drove his showroom display car, a 1903 London Electro-Mobile Syndicate (LEMS) EV which once had around a 48km range.

He says they covered more than 15km with ease on the farewell trip.

Buck is considering working in the climate change field.