Christchurch Reclaims the Record for the Largest Gathering of EVs in New Zealand.

For the last 7 months, Auckland has had the bragging rights as the EV capital of New Zealand, by holding the record for the largest gathering of electric vehicles, of 59 registered cars. However this was broken on Easter Saturday by Whangarei, with an impressive collection of 62 cars. This was particularly fitting, as Northland was an early pioneer in the adoption of EVs in New Zealand.

However, Christchurch wanted to take the record back, having first clinched the crown at Science Alive’s “Big Science Day” in 2015 with 37 cars. On Saturday, coinciding with the annual #LeadingTheCharge Bluff to Cape Reinga electric vehicle road trip that was passing through the Garden City, the Christchurch EV Group put out a call to all EV owners to amass at the University of Canterbury. While any number of 62 cars would have made the organisers happy, the real target was to do the ton.

The official count was announced by Christchurch City Councillor Vicki Buck. While it looked the final count may have been a tantalising 99 registered cars, happily a 100th registered car, or number 103 for all comers, arrived just before the cut off time. The final count comprised of 62 Nissan Leafs, 11 BMW i3s, 5 Mitsubishi PHEV Outlander, 4 Mitsubishi i-MiEVs, 4 Hyundai Ioniqs, 4 Tesla Model S, and one each of a Nissan e-NV200 van, a Renault Zoe, and an Audi e-tron. Additionally, there were a collection of 7 cars that that had been converted from a conventional engine to pure electric drive, once the mainstay of EVs on the New Zealand roads. These 100 registered vehicles were joined by 3 other electrically propelled vehicles, including the UC Motorsport 100% electric Formula SAE race car, a Renault Twizy, and finally a two wheeled, self-balancing scooter, for a total of 103 electric propelled vehicles.

The majority of the cars gathered were in private ownership, however the organisers were delighted to have the support of EV owning corporates including the Christchurch City Council, Air New Zealand, Waste Management, University of Canterbury, Orion, Meridian Energy, Mainpower and Christchurch Holiday Homes. In addition, many of the local electric vehicle sellers brought their forecourt cars to the record attempt, including Gary Cockram Hyundai, Euromarque, Archibald's, Electric Car Company, NZ Electric Vehicles, Turners Auctions, and Paul Kelly Motor Company, as well as being joined by the cars on the #LeadingTheCharge road trip.

Megan Reynolds, one of the organisers from the Christchurch EV Group, said she was overwhelmed by the number of electric cars that streamed into the UC carpark. “We knew that at least 40 cars would arrive, but the number of people owning EVs in Christchurch has been mushrooming.” Social media, word of mouth and placing information brochures on windscreens of parked EVs were some of the methods used to recruited EV owners for the record breaking attempt.

Kay Edgecumbe, a pioneer of EVs in the 1970s was delighted at the result. “When I registered my first EV in 1974, there were about five on the New Zealand roads.”

Following the record breaking attempt, local EV owners and those from the #LeadingTheCharge road trip dispersed to the Lincoln Farmers Market, New Brighton Market, and The Botanical Gardens where they talked to members of the public about the benefits of EV ownership and offered test rides and drives in a range of electric cars including the Tesla Model S, Nissan Leaf, and the Renault Zoe. Around 170 people took up the offer of a rides or a chance to drive an electric car over the morning. The majority of people who experienced an electric car for the first time were surprised at the acceleration and fuel savings they offered.

Mark Nixon, another of the organisers from the Christchurch EV Group has joined the #LeadingTheCharge road trip at Christchurch, and will be taking his Renault Zoe to Cape Reinga. “Using a combination of existing charging infrastructure and the generosity of individuals and companies up and down the country who provide access to power sockets to make up the shortfall, it’s pretty straightforward. My EV has a relatively small battery, so I need to spend about one hour charging for every hour driving. Which makes for a very relaxed and enjoyable motoring experience. And as official fast charging EV infrastructure continues to be rolled out, the time needed to be spend charging will go down.” This week the #LeadingTheCharge will be visiting a number of South Island cities and towns as they travel north, including Greymouth, Westport, Nelson and Blenheim.

© Scoop Media