Tesla’s record charge from Cape to Bluff
John Fitness wanted to prove a point: EVs can travel big distances as well as petrol cars
After attending the opening of the new Tesla supercharger in Whangarei, Aucklander John Fitness realised he could make a statement to dispel a myth about electric vehicles (EVs).
He's often heard the refrain, “Oh, you can't drive far in an EV”, and decided it was time to show the doubters: he would drive from Cape Reinga to Bluff in his Tesla Model 3.
Not one to do things by halves, the president and founder of the Tesla Owners Club of NZ would turn it into a Guinness World Record attempt — to do the 2000km-plus distance in the fewest number of charges.
But his main aim was to show that an electric car could do the trip in much the same time as a petrol car.
When he swept into Bluff on Friday to a waiting crowd, including Invercargill Mayor Tim Shadbolt, a tired but elated Fitness could let the figures do the talking: 40 hours, six charges, $117 (cost to charge the car).
Fitness says his matchplan allowed for “quite a bit of fat” in that he could take a break for a coffee and sandwich while charging (typically between 30 and 50 minutes), and he slept on the ferry during the five-hour Cook Strait crossing.
A “beautiful” Ngati Kuri sendoff at Cape Reinga began the challenge in the best possible way, he says. The record attempt required witnesses at the start (Northland EV advocate Joe Camuso) and finish (Shadbolt).
Coincidentally, Fitness' record bid came just after the Climate Change Commission report was released, recommending an aggressive move to EVs and banning new petrol cars from 2032.
Camuso says Fitness made two significant statements: that EVs can replace petrol cars with little loss of convenience; and that the fast-growing EV charging infrastructure, required for long trips, extends throughout the country (for short trips, EVs would mostly be charged at home or work).
When asked if EVs should be subsidised, Camuso points to the $8 billion of oil New Zealand imports each year. “If we cut that back by, say $2b, and spend some of that on NZ-made renewable electricity then economically that's a win-win for the country and, to my mind, justifies making EVs cheaper and more accessible.”
Fitness concedes EVs are expensive and that is an impediment to their uptake. He spent $75,000 on his Model 3 — but, even so, it is neither a topof-the-range Model 3 nor a Tesla Model S, which has a much greater range.