Electric Aotearoa
Ilook in my rearview mirror and see flashing lights. My stomach sinks. It’s over. It all ends here in Westport as dusk sets over the Southern Alps. have one of those brains that assumes, every time I see a police officer, that I’ve unwittingly done something wrong.
Perhaps I have run over the town’s pet guinea pig doing twice the speed limit. I take a fleeting glimpse at my speedo. Wait a minute, I’m under the speed limit. What’s this all about?
I glance in the rearview mirror again. It isn’t the police behind me. It looks like a fiery farmer flashing his lights. The knot in my stomach gets a little tighter. Forget the thin blue line, I’m about to face the pitchfork of provincial justice.
I pull over and get out of the car and, to my surprise, am greeted with a smile.
‘‘Hey mate,’’ he starts. ‘‘Sorry to pull you over. I saw you around town and wanted to ask you a question. I see your car is electric, and my wife wants to get one. What’s it like?’’
Relief sweeps over me, as we get into an in-depth conversation about the car.
Let’s rewind a little. Late last year, we came up with an audacious plan. How about a 100-day road trip around New Zealand, in an attempt to tell
100 travel stories. Then we decided to take it up a level and we would do the trip in an electric vehicle.
As a petrol driver, I naturally assumed this would be near impossible. But if electric is the future, I was keen to put it to the test.
It’s all especially relevant now with the government’s new rebate on electric vehicles (EVs) driving interest through the roof. So what is it like driving an EV on an 9000-kilometre road trip from Cape Reinga to Bluff and back again? What are the best road trips? And what hidden gems did we find?
Buckle up for an interesting ride because this wasn’t some glamorous electric-powered holiday around New Zealand; it involved roadside issues, a road that floats, and a near-serious accident.
The right car
Getting the right EV was essential. We would be doing long days and couldn’t afford to be charging every few hours. We started researching, and quickly decided our ideal car was a Hyundai Kona because of its 449 kilometres of ‘‘real-world range’’. I was suspicious of that claim, but keen to test it.
I picked up the car and didn’t have a clue what to do. I sat in the car park for more than 30 minutes, wondering how I get the thing to work. I turned it on, but why couldn’t I drive it? It felt like driving a spaceship, but I had no idea how to get off the launchpad.
Then, it struck me. The car was already on; I just couldn’t hear it. We all know electric cars are silent, but the hardwiring in my brain just couldn’t figure out how to drive something that wasn’t making a noise. It was clear I had a lot of learning ahead.
The North Island
With the borders closed, Kiwis are embracing road trips in record numbers, and it’s not surprising because we’re blessed with some of the most scenic drives in the world.
A standout highlight was a visit to the ‘‘republic’’ of Whangamo¯ mona. The only way there is via the appropriately named Forgotten World Highway, deep in an untamed wilderness between Taumarunui and Stratford. The wonderfully scenic road includes a long one-way tunnel, which was made in the 1930s with jackhammers. It sits as it did 85 years ago, and is affectionately known as the Hobbit’s Hole, and it felt like we had entered Middle Earth.
A close second was the drive around East Cape, full of cows, chickens, goats, pigs, and some of the best hospitality the country has to offer.
Surprisingly, driving range wasn’t an issue, even on days we headed to the boondocks.
The car had a giant map with an orb on it showing us how far we could drive, depending on our battery level. We could get the car to automatically search for charging stations if we were running low, or could charge it overnight at hotels, which was our preference.
There are charging stations in many small towns,
and almost all larger ones have them, so it was never an issue finding a place to recharge.
The South Island
The South Island is one of the most beautiful places on Earth to drive a car, my favourite route being from Queenstown to Mt Cook.
It is an iconic drive that captures the best of the Southern Alps from your window. You get a resortstyle experience in Queenstown and a scenic drive through Cromwell, the Lindis Pass and Lake Pu¯ kaki, then the grandeur of Aoraki/Mt Cook to finish.
We passed through Cromwell during the cherry season and scooped up a 4kg box. We made the monumental mistake of eating them all within a few hours. If there was technology to harness the digestive impact that followed, we could have done the rest of the trip on natural gas.
At Tuapeka Mouth, near Clutha, we found our other South Island highlight: a floating section of road called The Punt. It essentially consists of two old boats, joined together with a plank, that you drive your car onto, then float across to the other side.
The well-worn appearance is due to its age; the punt was installed in 1896 as a way of connecting a remote goldmining camp to the other side of the river. Amazingly, it still operates and is free to use.
The South Island is also where we put the car to the test. Does the Kona really have 449km of ‘‘real world’’ range?
We tested it from Greymouth, over the Haast Pass, to our hotel for the night. If the claim was correct, we would arrive with just 36 kilometres to spare. If Hyundai got this wrong, we would be stuck on the side of the road in the Southern Alps.
I was anxious, but we arrived with 42 kilometres left, thanks to the car’s sophisticated braking technology, which helps charge the battery down hill. I was impressed.
The car that saved my life
I can’t forget one incident. Near Taupo¯ , on an open stretch of road, a driver in front of me missed their turn-off. Without checking whether anybody was behind, the driver jammed on the breaks in the middle of a highway to do a U-turn.
The Kona is packed with advanced safety technology, such as emergency braking and, before I had time to brake manually, the car had automatically started to slow down.
If it weren’t for the computer’s instant reaction, despite having a sizeable gap I would have crashed into the back of the car in front. I’m very thankful for technology.
The verdict
After 100 days of travelling around the country, it felt like I didn’t even begin to scratch the surface of what Aotearoa has to offer.
And driving electric was easier than petrol. The future is exciting.
The writer’s trip was supported by Hyundai NZ.