April 19 2016

Take a ride in a Tesla Model S Car to raise funds for Wanaka Primary School

Lucky locals in Wanaka will be able to take a ride in the Tesla Model S car for the first time when it visits Warbirds & Wheels at Wanaka Airport on Sunday May 1 2016.

The world’s most awarded Electric Vehicle will be at Warbirds & Wheels on May 1 2016 between 10am and 12pm and available for a quick ride for a donation which will go towards Wanaka Primary School’s sustainability project which aims to make the school’s grounds more activity based.

Richard Macdonald is passionate about global sustainability in water use and zero emission cars and he is driving his privately owned Tesla S through the South Island to raise awareness of the future of energy efficient driving.

The car, electricity and Richard’s time are kindly donated, however Richard also wants to leave a sustainability legacy in Wanaka which is why he’s offering rides for a donation to the school.

The donation for a five minute quick ride –maximum four people per trip- is $20 per person and will take place at Wanaka Airport.

Jennie Lyall from Wanaka Primary School said the opportunity to be involved with Tesla was “hugely exciting and a great privilege”.

“We’re incredibly grateful to be receiving donations from the up-coming Tesla Ride morning at Warbirds & Wheels. The donations will go towards our project to create environmentally friendly playscapes for the children, with sustainable, locally sourced materials i.e. wood, large rocks, plantings etc, said Ms Lyall.

“We’re aiming to make play areas that recognise our surroundings, the native species from around Wanaka, the use of bush areas etc as a play area for the children,” she added.

“There’s been genuine interest from people wanting to get up-close to the Tesla and actually talk to someone who uses one regularly. Tesla does not yet have an office in New Zealand which means you can only drive one of the 35 privately owned Tesla’s that have been imported to date, or drive one in America,” said Mr Macdonald.

The Model S, which retails at around NZD$130,000, became the first electric car to top the monthly new car sales ranking in any country, twice leading in Norway, in September and again in December 2013.

It has won numerous awards including the 2013 World Green Car of the Year, 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year, Automobile magazine's 2013 Car of the Year, Time Magazine Best 25 Inventions of the Year 2012 award and Consumer Reports' top-scoring car ever. In 2015, Car and Driver named the Model S the Car of the Century.

Tesla has Smart Green technology, with ZERO emissions, 100% electric, 400 km range and the P85D goes 0 to 100 in 3.2 seconds.

The Tesla S P90D out-accelerates all top end German and Italian production sports cars, except the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (0 to 100 in 2.5 sec).

Warbirds & Wheels managing director Robert Duncan said the Tesla rides day would be a “great opportunity for locals in and near Wanaka to see the car of the future”.

“At Warbirds & Wheels we celebrate the cars of yesteryear with pride, but it’s extremely exciting to be a part of the Tesla ride morning and see what the future of car manufacturing looks like.

“The likes of our Packards and Duesenberg certainly could guzzle some gas in their day so the contrast between these two cars is phenomenal. We’re going to display one of them side-by-side with the Tesla so people can appreciate the beauty of both these feats of engineering,” said Mr Duncan.

“We’ll be celebrating cars in a big way on the day as the Tesla visit coincides with our monthly Cars Over Coffee morning event which sees members of the local car community visit us for breakfast. Around 1pm on the same day 46 classic cars will also descend on Warbirds & Wheels as part of a national car rally around Central Otago”, added Mr Duncan.

ENDS

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