EV road trip heading for Nelson

A fleet of electric vehicles will glide into Nelson this week as part of a country-wide road trip.

In 2015, the Better NZ Trust set out to prove that it was possible to drive from Bluff to Cape Reinga in an electric vehicle (EV) and the Leading The Charge road trip was born.

Taking in a route carefully planned around charging points, the original road trip was no doubt far more of a logistical challenge than it is today, thanks to both the rapid proliferation of public fastcharging stations and the increase in battery range of the vehicles.

In 2016, half a dozen cars started in Bluff and headed up north. This year more than double that number started from the southern port, showing the growing presence of EV cars on New Zealand roads.

Not all will make the entire trip; others will join in further up and more still will join for the day or put in an appearance at one of the many stops the event will make as it weaves its way up the country over the next couple of weeks. In Christchurch at the weekend, 103 electric car owners met at Canterbury University during the Leading the Charge stopover, setting a new record for an EV gathering.

The convoy will stop in Nelson on Wednesday at the 1903 Square at the top of Trafalgar St from noon-2pm. Owners will be available to answer any questions about EVs and there may be a chance to go for a quiet spin.

Raising awareness through education is a key part of the Leading the Charge event.

The range of cars involved covers the spectrum of EVs currently available here, including a pair of BMW i3s (the pure EV kind), several examples of the Tesla Model S, a few Mitsubishi Outlander PHEVs, a pair of Hyundai Ioniqs and a host of Nissan Leafs.

There was even a cameo appearance by one of the first modern hybrids at the Bluff starting line, when an original Honda Insight put in a guest appearance.

We took a BMW i3 for the first leg from Bluff to Dunedin. The i3 was very much designed as a city car, but it is surprisingly adept at handling the long, straight roads of the South Island with the biggest challenge keeping it at 100kmh.

While the ride was a bit firm and uncompromising on the coarse, rugged chip seal, this is a minor irritation in what is otherwise a deeply impressive experience in a car that, quite frankly, is well out of its element.