To EV or not to EV? It’s car against ute; Mike against Mike

One is fast, quiet and saves the planet – the other’s a vital workhorse. Kevin Norquay reports.

Speed, sound system, sustainability, let us count the ways Wellington business manager Mike Suggate enjoys his

EV.

Cheeky waves Tesla drivers throw each other’s way simply add to the pleasure: ‘‘It’s a cult,’’ he laughs.

An avowed early adopter with a career in engineering, mechanical engineer Suggate put down a $1500 deposit for his Tesla 3, then waited two years for it to arrive in September 2019.

‘‘There was nothing else on the market with the range we wanted for trips (this one does close to 500km). You want an electric car? Do you want the latest technology? Do you want to try and save the planet? All these things come in,’’ he says.

‘‘And you want to be a first mover with technology, which interests me as well. Most of the companies he [Tesla founder Elon Musk] has worked with have been engineeringrelated or energyrelated, so I’m interested in energy and things relating to that.

‘‘Being interested in energy I got caught up in the excitement of the new technology and the potential for that technology.

‘‘And I was seriously interested in reducing my carbon footprint and getting off carbon fuels. That was quite important as well.’’

Very important, in fact. Suggate is baffled by those who express concern about the state of the planet, yet do little more than talk about it.

‘‘You feel good about not burning petrol, but it’s also exceptionally nice to drive. And it’s very quiet. It’s got a superb sound system, which is helpful and goes with being quiet and it handles really well

‘‘It’s a really good driver’s car and it’s exceptionally quick too; it’s got two moods, one is chill and one is sport. Sport is insanely quick. So we just use chill.’’

Even the reputation Tesla has for unreliability – and his own car breaking down when the inverter on the rear motor failed – doesn’t stress him.

He was more inclined to express upset over the $140 worth of petrol he had to put in the V6 Holden that got him home.

‘‘You tell me about a car that doesn’t break down, it was the first such failure in New Zealand and there are several thousand of them here.

‘‘Apart from that it’s been 100 per cent reliable, and its warranty is eight years.’’

While wedded to EVs, he’s not married to Tesla by any means, it’s a matter of a better alternative becoming available. New Zealand has waiting EV waiting lists. But there will be no return to petrol.

Part of the Tesla attraction was charismatic chief executive Elon Musk, who has been credited with changing the face of motoring.

Suggate bought Tesla shares at the same time as his car. They have gone up tenfold in value.

‘‘Elon Musk is inspirational, and he’s totally changed motoring forever. You wouldn’t have EVs in anything like the same volumes without him, so he was worth backing.’’

And in a week when 95 octane petrol topped $3 per litre, Suggate has another reason to be happy. It costs him about $12 for a full charge at his house.

‘‘It’s a lot cheaper, even if I have to charge it at the commercial charging stations. It’s not $12, it might be $25 to $30, so it’s still much cheaper than petrol.’’

In the same Karori Golf Club car park sits the blue Holden Colorado diesel ute of builder Mike Wood. He has owned five utes across 20 years.

Wood has nothing against EVs – he’d buy one if there was one that could do what he wants it for, a work horse – but he’s miffed by the flip side of the Government Clean Car Discount package.

With new EVs the Government has giveth in the form of up to a $8625 discount, for the utes it has been taketh away, with the Automobile Association (AA) estimating a $3000 penalty for those buying new utes from this year.

‘‘It is a beat up,’’ he says.

‘‘There’s loads of other cars that are diesel and utes these days are probably just as good as any other car as far as emissions go. The motors are modern. It is weird how they’re picking on utes.

‘‘What’s the difference between a ute and a large SUV? I mean, people might have them for camping or, just towing the load on your little trailer around, it’s handy for multiple uses.

‘‘If you are penalising diesel engines, there’s a lot of cars that you could be penalising … it’s just got a canopy or tray on the back, which is handy for a lot of things.’’

His ownership of a ute, is workrelated. He can fit all his tools in, and it can carry a load.

‘‘I’ve always needed a ute or a van even. I’d like to have a private car as well that I could drive without having to lug all the tools around, but I’ve always needed one for work.’’

An electric ute that can do all his Holden can is yet to land in New Zealand. It’s not a matter of driving range, it’s all about lugging a load.

‘‘If there was an alternative, an electric ute or even a hybrid ute, I’d have a look at it for sure. But they’re obviously having issues with getting the mileage out of them under a load. It’s not cutting it at the moment.

‘‘I definitely look at an electric car for certain situations. They’re great if you’re just nipping around town and places like that.’’

‘‘Elon Musk is inspirational, and he’s totally changed motoring forever. You wouldn’t have EVs in anything like the same volumes without him, so he was worth backing.’’ Mike Suggate