Holiday parks in New Zealand are putting their money where their mouth is with the installation of 54 electric vehicle charge points in 24 holiday parks around the country, encouraging the use of electric vehicles.

Fourteen holiday parks in the North Island and 10 in the South Island are now offering 22kW AC charge points, which provide relatively fast charge for vehicles in lieu of installing expensive DC chargers.

[Alex Stone - Waiheke Weekender - 10 Jan 2019]

The goal for the recently announced initiative on Waiheke, "Electric Island", is for a totally clean island in terms of transport and power supply by 2030.

In an article in Waiheke Weekender, dated 10 January, local EV Owner, Alex Stone, talks to other Islanders including The Better NZ Trust's own Carl Barlev, and the owners of Easy Transport, a (nearly) EV-only taxi service on the island.

Read Full Article here.

Image credit: Nikita Podobulkin Wind Farm in India

Within India's vast mega cities, apartment living is more common than standalone housing. Yet, residential apartments are currently a barrier to EV uptake the world over, and likely to be a key reason India is lagging behind the world in EV Sales. Many locals have been waiting on the government to publish promised building code guidelines for EV. Finally today, the wait is over for India. The Department of Town and Country Planning under the Ministry of Housing & Urban Development has issued guidelines to provide for electric vehicle charging infrastructure through addendum to Model Building Bye-Laws. 

India is known for flip-flopping on EV policy, particularly after the u-turn on their initial announcement for EV-sales-only after 2030. (Now 30% New Sales by 2030.) It is possible then, that these new guidelines will also be relaxed if found to be impractical.

Even Norway struggles with the apartment issue, While California has already issued guidelines for multi-dwelling complexes. The most common issues are: lack of space to install a power point near the parking spaces; meter room not located on same floor as parking; preventing electricity theft; apprehensive body corporates and building managers; billing for power on shared ev parking spaces; EVSE installation, ownership & maintenance; H&S concerns; and building's power capacity being fully utilised.

Sooner or later either the New Zealand government or local governments will need to address these issues for our apartment dwellers. Solutions apply to all of the issues, but the building industry and body corporates need to be educated on what those solutions are. Perhaps our nation's leaders need to formulate our own guidelines. India's new legislation will, therefore, be an interesting test case for NZ and other countries.

[Rachelle Tilsley - Better NZ Trust - 7 Jan 2019]

The opinions stated are the author's own and are not necessarily those of the Better NZ Trust,

Electric transportation is about more than cars.

Trucks and buses are also moving toward electric propulsion. Planes, with their long ranges and high power demands seem to be harder. Where electric power does seem to be making progress in the skies is in helicopters. 

Guinness Record Holding Electric Helicopter by Tier 1 Engineering

Volkswagen Looks Back Again While Moving into EV Age

Volkswagen is working on an electric dune buggy concept vehicle that pays homage to the classic Meyers Manx.

Now, as VW prepares to introduce the first EVs on its new MEB (modular electric architecture) platform, the company is quietly developing a concept inspired by Meyers’ creation. If produced, it could be one of three retro-themed EVs, including the Buzz, based on the classic Microbus, and a five-door new Beetle.

A driver at a hydrogen pump at a Los Angeles gas station refuels a futuristic, zero-emission Chevrolet Equinox hydrogen-fuel-cell powered automobile. The vehicle has a range of 150 miles. An electronic plug-in cable controls the refilling process.
Image Credit: (iStock) pandapix

Australian Research

Low energy efficiency is already a major problem for petrol and diesel vehicles. Typically, only 20% of the overall well-to-wheel energy is actually used to power these vehicles.  This low energy efficiency is the primary reason why fossil fuel vehicles are emissions-intensive and relatively expensive to run.

The other 80% is lost through oil extraction, refinement, transport, evaporation, and engine heat.

With this in mind, we set out to understand the energy efficiency of electric and hydrogen vehicles as part of a recent paper published in the Air Quality and Climate Change Journal.

[Article Credit: The Conversation - 30 Nov 2018]

Start sequence, BMW i Berlin E-Prix 2017/18 - Credit: LAT/Formula E

Electric dream: consortium still pushing to bring Formula E to Auckland

A consortium including ASB Classic tennis tournament director Karl Budge is angling to bring "Formula E" racing to Auckland.

He and consortium partner Craig Cotton (head of the NZ Innovation Council) commissioned a study by SMG YouGov that says the race would bring in $150m a year.

Why It's Important

Budge and Cotton say it's not just about the thrill of motorsport. The pair argue Formula E racing in New Zealand would help spur clean energy research and electric vehicle adoption as the government targets a carbon neutral economy by 2050.

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Can New Zealand reach Norway's standard for electric vehicles?

You know things are getting a little crazy when people are calling for taxes on fossil fuels to be cut so we can keep consuming fossil fuels and maintain our trajectory towards climate chaos.

There is actually plenty of good news, and much of it involves the Government. But what can we do ourselves? Up until recently, most commentators thought that petrol demand was "inelastic" - we'd just keep buying it no matter how much it cost. However, the recent price spike saw people boycott petrol stations briefly and Z Energy has reported a 31% fall in profits in the six months to the end of September. People are managing to do with less. The sky did not fall and alternatives to the single occupant car were found. So how about taking a pause to think about our own transport habits and what we could change to reduce burning fossil fuels...

[Scott Willis - Otago Daily Times - 12 Oct 2018]

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The latest data from Flip the Fleet, a coalition of over 1,150 EV owners from all round New Zealand, shows that electric vehicles are actually driven further each year than combustion vehicles.

The annual average distance travelled across all models of EVs is 14,100 km/year, a Electric vehicles go the distance quarter more than the 11,500 km/year for combustion vehicles.

“Our Trust provides test drives to let people experience what a joy EVs are to drive,” says Kathryn Trounson, Chairperson of The Better New Zealand Trust, “These data show that the switch to electric cars also saves them money while reducing New Zealand’s carbon footprint.”

[Kathryn Trounson - Opunake and Coastal News - 11 Oct 2018]