Apart from their car manual, there's an unspoken manual of etiquette for electric vehicle owners to follow. Photo 123rf
With more than 108,000 electric vehicles on New Zealand roads, Jane Phare looks into the etiquette of owning and charging your EV
They can’t help but look smug, these EV owners, as they zoom – quietly - past Kiwis queuing at a petrol station, knowing that a full tank of gas is likely to cost their motoring colleagues more than $100. Sure, the cost of petrol has dropped by 11.5 cents a litre in the Auckland region - for a while - after the fuel tax, imposed six years ago, came off at the beginning of this month.
However that reduction won’t wipe the contented looks off the faces of Tesla owners, or their e-colleagues driving electron-fuelled Polestar 2 or Hyundai Kona electric cars. They feel they’re travelling almost for free. But like anything in life, there are rules - both spoken and unspoken - to being a good EV owner.
One Auckland homeowner, we’ll call her Deborah*, couldn’t help doing a double take at the power bill at their North Island holiday home after friends with e-vehicles came to stay in the summer. Their Genesis power bill, which ticks along at between $2 and $3 a day, running fridges and the internet, spikes to $17 a day when the EV friends and family arrive, plugging in their Teslas into a garage power point to charge overnight.
Using gas for cooking and heating water, and a fire for heating, Deborah’s power bill is normally low.
“There is a very definite spike when we have people [with an EV] staying.”
However being a fairly remote beach cove, with the nearest charging station many kilometres away, she conceded her guests had little choice.
She suggests e-guests coming to stay could mention the need to charge their electric vehicle as a courtesy beforehand, and perhaps offer to cover the cost.
Deborah says she’d probably decline anyway but might think differently if people were staying longer.
“I think if I offered our house to friends [with an EV] to stay while we are away for a length of time, I would ask for a contribution towards power.”
And she wonders if she rents out the beach house for weeks in the holiday period, what to do about guests who charge their cars.
“It could make a significant impact on your profit margin.”
Bachcare and Airbnb have noticed an increase in would-be renters searching online for rental properties with EV charging outlets in both main islands. And both have raised the possibility of installing EV charging outlets (at a cost of around $2000) at holiday homes as a way of attracting EV owners and green tourism.
Airbnb’s Michael Crosby, head of public policy in Australia and New Zealand, says global searches using the platform’s EV charger filter grew by more than 80 per cent from 2022 to 2023.
“Our data tells us that homes that offer an EV charger are booked for more nights, and generate more income, on average compared to listings without one.”
Bachcare spokeswoman Kerry-Lee Cunningham says although some owners aren’t so keen on having EV owners draw extra power for their cars, having a charging outlet at a holiday home is definitely a drawcard. Some home owners have EVs themselves and have installed charging facilities.
Cunningham points out that the ability to charge a privately-owned or rental EV at holiday homes outside main areas means both local and international guests can explore more remote areas of New Zealand, and spend dollars in areas that would otherwise miss out on the business.
“I see that as very healthy. You are driving that EV tourism through the towns instead of EV users being limited to metropolitan areas.”
Bachcare guests are not charged an additional fee for charging their EVs, she says. If property owners are concerned about the additional power costs, Bachcare suggests they build that into the overall fee.
Adam Smith, owner of the Sherwood Queenstown hotel, likes to share the e-love with EV owners. He plugs his Tesla into one of two charging stations at the 78-room eco-hotel each day and encourages staff and visitors to do the same, free of charge. The stations, powered by extensive solar panels on the hotel roof which produce 70,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually, can also be used by casual restaurant guests and those who visit the wellness centre or the shared working space.
This year the hotel has partnered rental company Ryd to provide a Hyundai Kona EV at the hotel, rented to guests for $18 an hour.
Last summer New Zealand campground owners nervously eyed their power supplies as the EV crowd arrived to pitch their tents or park their caravans, and plug in. Campground managers knew that a couple of Teslas and a Nissan Leaf charging overnight could easily throw some facilities into darkness, blowing fuses on power points meant to power a frypan and a toaster.
Aware that charging EVs can cause power surges and outages, the Holiday Parks Association warned campground owners about the potential for overloading remote and ageing infrastructure, and suggested camp managers establish rules.
Sales of electric and hybrid vehicles boomed after the 2021 announcement of the clean car rebate, which took more than $8600 off the price of some new EVs. The value of fully electric vehicle imports doubled in value during the 12 months to March 2023 to $1.1 billion, according to Stats NZ. Last year Prime Minister Christopher Luxon was heckled for claiming the subsidy on a Tesla bought for his wife, Amanda.
After the subsidy was dropped on New Year’s Eve last year, and road-user charges introduced in April this year, sales unsurprisingly dropped sharply. Imports of e-cars fell by 66% to $38 million in March, compared to $72m last March. And in May sales fell by 72%, from $102m to $39m.
However, there are still more than 108,000 fully electric light cars and plug-in hybrids sucking up power supplies whenever their kilometre range drops nervously low.
The Automobile Association (AA) has plenty of etiquette advice for EV owners.
“Snack, don’t go out for a full meal,” advises the AA’s chief mobility officer, Jonathan Sergel. He’s talking about not hogging the public charging stations, found at petrol stations, supermarkets and shopping malls, and places like Mitre 10. Most EV owners are well aware of their battery’s range.
Take small bites of power when you’re out and about, he says, and remember that charging stations are not car parks. Only top up to 80% because the last 20% takes a lot longer. Plan ahead and save the full charge for at home where the power is cheaper . An average charge will be between $10 and $15. Some power companies offer free power at certain times - typically overnight.
“Go to the petrol station while you’re sleeping.”
Be considerate at public charging stations. Don’t “set and forget”, Sergel says. Using phone apps like PlugShare can help monitor your vehicle’s charging status while you’re at the supermarket. On the whole, he thinks e-drivers are fairly considerate.
“EV drivers are a pretty good community generally, relatively environmentally focused and they understand good and bad etiquette.”
For those who need a bit of a reminder to get moving, the country’s largest charging network ChargeNet has introduced an “idle fee” of $1 a minute if the EV remains connected to the charger five minutes after the charging session has ended. It has a nationwide network of more 552 charge points - 359 in the North Island and 193 in the South Island.
*Name has been changed to protect identity
Jane Phare is a senior Auckland-based business, features and investigations journalist, former assistant editor of NZ Herald and former editor of the Weekend Herald and Viva.
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