I bought a Nissan Leaf (2019 40 kWh battery with a range of about 200 km now) at the end of last year to give me more mobility as I recovered from foot surgery. The aim was to use it to get to the beach and other local trips. But before I sell it in April, I thought I would take it on a couple of longer trips. The first one was this week.
I planned the trip to our camping destination north of Kaikoura using the PlugShare app. This app helps EV drivers find charging stations, leave reviews, and connect with other plug-in vehicle owners.
Our first stop in Amberly whilst charging at Countdown
It would have been fairly straightforward if we hadn't encountered an accident just north of Amberley that required a detour. That meant charging in Cheviot, which we could have avoided if we had driven straight through. So far, so good.
There is a park near the Cheviot charger, which makes it easy to take a break as you can buy food and drink from the Four Square mini market
But then we encountered the next wrinkle: chargers aren't always available. This is fine if people check in by the PlugShare app. Unfortunately, we arrived at New World Kaikoura to find a couple in a large EV who had not checked in. But it was okay to wait as we needed to get supplies from the supermarket (beer, ice and the dog food I had forgot to bring).
Once it was our turn and we plugged in, we could go to the beach which was a mere two minutes walk away. The ChargeNet app let us know when charging was finished so that we didn't block the charger for anyone else who might arrive. And I tried to remember to check in and check out on PlugShare when I was charging.
Great beach near the Kaikoura New World Charger
Fun driving around the Kaikoura coastline
Beware of falling rocks!
Our campsite. No electricity here.
Heading home
Our Jack Russell is oblivious to the dolphins jumping out of the water just off the shore near Kaikoura on our drive home
It was far smoother coming back, with no accidents and no one else using the chargers that we planned to use, though we stopped in Cheviot again as it was over 30 degrees and we wanted to use the range-reducing AC.
We came home to see the smoke from the Port Hills fire that is still burning. Another sign of climate change and how we need to do everything we can to mitigate it. Driving electric cars is fine, but I would rather there was integrated public transport to get around New Zealand. Maybe one day.
Smoke from the Port Hills fire from Magazine Bay, Lyttelton
Was it economical?
Yes.
Total trip kilometres: 520
Charged at: Amberley, Cheviot and Kaikoura and the same in reverse.
Cost: $NZ 54.14
91 petrol currently costs about $2.70 per litre. The fuel-efficient 2018 Suzuki Swift uses 4.6 litres of fuel per 100km. It would have used 23.92 litres at a total cost of $64.58. So I saved money as well as carbon emissions, even though I was using (expensive) fast chargers.
Left home with (free solar power) a charge of “100%” and returned home with “38%”. The state of health of the battery is about 80%
