He's the Minister of Energy and Resources, the Minister of Transport, and probably the country's pre-eminent EV devotee.
Tauranga MP Simon Bridges he will be right in his element when he fronts up at Bayfair for one of several Tauranga events embracing International Drive Electric Week.
Minister of Transport Simon Bridges with his new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Photo: Chris Callinan.
About 20 electric vehicles will be on display at the event taking place this Saturday, from 12pm to 3pm.
'This will be a great opportunity for people to come down and see what these vehicles are about,” says Simon.
The Minister will be showing off his sleek new Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. He's had it for a month and is still on the original tank of gas.
'If you put it on charge every night, you hardly ever need to use petrol, especially if your driving is around town.”
International Drive Electric Week runs through until Sunday and will be the biggest celebration of electric vehicles in New Zealand increasing from just a few events in 2015 to more than 50 events around the country this year.
'The Government has set a target to double the number of EVs on the road to 64,000 by 2021.”
To achieve the target the Government has extended the RUC (road user charges) on light EVs which could save drivers up to $600 a year, a contestable $6 million fund to get innovative EV projects underway and working on procurement options for bulk EV purchasing.
'We want to encourage New Zealanders to go electric because EVs are cheaper to run than petrol or diesel vehicles, they're powered by our abundant renewable electricity supply, and they'll reduce the emissions from the country's vehicle fleet,” says Simon.
The International Drive Electric Week event takes place at Bayfair this Saturday, September 17, from 12pm to 3pm.
For a full list of International Drive Electric Week events visit: www.leadingthecharge.org.nz/calendar or for more information about electric vehicles see: www.electricvehicles.govt.nz
11 comments
WHY
Posted on 14-09-2016 11:28 | By waiknot
If NZ electric supply is abundant and renewable, why is it so bloody expensive?
Maybe..
Posted on 14-09-2016 11:49 | By Me again
they should have an international elect. car day in front of the Govt Beehive eh Simon then the PM and MP could use them instead of the BMw's ha
Shortfall in tax!!
Posted on 14-09-2016 12:28 | By The Hobbit
Waiknot for Mayor!!! So if these vehicles are cheaper to run, what happens when we all switch and the Government lose a fortune in tax revenue? Where will the shortfall come from? Increase electricity charges? Increased RUCs?
MPs, travel perks & hypocrisy
Posted on 14-09-2016 12:34 | By BullShtAlert
The small savings made using electric vehicles are gobbled up when our MPs fly business class on international fact finding missions and stay in 4 and 5 star luxury hotels. But no problem, the taxpayers will pay.
Coal power?
Posted on 14-09-2016 15:00 | By timor2011
So how do we power these charging stations? Burning coal? And I'd like to see it tow a load without having to stop and charge half way to your destination. When these battery cells fail it'll cost you they are not cheap. Plus I can get a month out of my new Diesel engine without filling up the new diesel technology is awesome.
Sorry Simon
Posted on 14-09-2016 16:40 | By Politically Incorrect
Electric vehicles will never be mainstream until they take under 5 minutes to fully charge, and can travel more than 10 yards. Might be OK for a daily short commute, as long as you remember to charge it each night. Hybrid is fine for now, but hydrogen is the only real way to go. Moving to a much less convenient technology will simply not be adopted. Just imagine.. Medical emergency! Yep, just wait 8 hours for me to charge the Leaf and we'll get going.
Good for you Simon
Posted on 14-09-2016 20:32 | By mutley
I am sure that your car will work fine for you. If you only drive from home to the office and airport and back it will be just great. For the rest of us in the real world our vehicle requirements are much more complex when we are out doing work to keep the economy going. We should not be penalised financially by punitive RUCs on small diesels etc while you ride for free because you and NZTA might think that one size will fit all.
So
Posted on 14-09-2016 21:41 | By Merlin
So you save on petrol and increase your power bill charging the car.Will never make a lot of ground.When the Government buys them for ministerial use and are wondering where the next charging point is whilst touring the Country will believe that they are sincere that this will take off.
We largely rely on a
Posted on 15-09-2016 07:53 | By earlybird
regular rainfall to fill the lakes and rivers to generate hydro electricity. What happens when we get a prolonged drought? Every day we hear something about climate change, so perhaps our rainfall will become less reliable. How will we charge our electric cars then??
The key question...
Posted on 15-09-2016 09:11 | By Darren
... about the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV is how many homeless people can sleep in it?
Flawed
Posted on 15-09-2016 10:41 | By Capt_Kaveman
still we have large vehicles with only one person
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