'This car can...' Check out our new campaign
Rakiura / Stewart Island faces the highest electricity prices in New Zealand. Successive governments have funded report after report and numerous fly-in visits by Ministers have failed to change this situation for the local community. Rewiring Aotearoa believes the opportunity is to harness existing solar and battery technology to deliver significant cost-of-living savings and reduced emissions at scale via electrification on Stewart Island right now. With financed solar and batteries, electricity usage costs for residents could be halved without delay. Rewiring Aotearoa has been engaging with the local community, who have been sending us their power bills. On Saturday 27th April some of the Rewiring team visited Stewart Island (including Mike Rewi who has strong whakapapa to Stewart Island). What we are hearing from this community is many locals fear the proposals and the likely “preferred option” will be focused on replacing current diesel generators, not on reducing the cost of energy for consumers. Our proposal outlines Rewiring Aotearoa’s pitch for an alternative approach to develop a community-led energy solution for the Island.
Rakiura / Stewart Island faces the highest electricity prices in New Zealand. Successive governments have funded report after report and numerous fly-in visits by Ministers have failed to change this situation for the local community. Rewiring Aotearoa believes the opportunity is to harness existing solar and battery technology to deliver significant cost-of-living savings and reduced emissions at scale via electrification on Stewart Island right now. With financed solar and batteries, electricity usage costs for residents could be halved without delay. Rewiring Aotearoa has been engaging with the local community, who have been sending us their power bills.
On Saturday 27th April some of the Rewiring team visited Stewart Island (including Mike Rewi who has strong whakapapa to Stewart Island). What we are hearing from this community is many locals fear the proposals and the likely “preferred option” will be focused on replacing current diesel generators, not on reducing the cost of energy for consumers. Our proposal outlines Rewiring Aotearoa’s pitch for an alternative approach to develop a community-led energy solution for the Island by:
1) Engaging with the community to develop and test a package of solutions that will work for the community.
2) Empowering the community through finance to install the lowest cost possible electricity through rooftop solar, and then further lower costs and build resilience by financing their batteries, and electric water and space heaters to improve cost-of-living and comfort. This would simultaneously massively reduce diesel use through generators.
3) Developing an improved electricity pricing model that does not involve full-time residents subsidising crib owners and Airbnbs, or raise costs for those who choose not to install their own generation and storage.
4) Developing a combined supply-side and consumer-side energy transition pathway to enable the community to reduce, and then remove, their dependence on expensive diesel for electricity generation, but also over time to remove their dependence on expensive solid fuel, LPG and diesel (for other uses).
5) Increasing the energy resilience through energy storage on Stewart Island and significantly decreasing the need for diesel, LPG and solid fuel imports.
Some self-inflicted corporate welfare as two big companies put solar on their roof; the trends are revealing and EVs are on the ascendancy right now as people worry about fuel prices and availability; new report shows potential for businesses to save 64% on operational costs by electrifying the fleet, while Ikea shows how to do it in Australia; the Lightship offers a smooth, powerful road trip; when you buy a petrol car you're basically taking out a $20,000 petrol loan; and Robbie Nichol attempts to explain the strange world of New Zealand's electricity market.
Read moreDownloadThere are a lot more New Zealanders looking for EVs right now as concerns about the price and availability of fuel rises. But many of them are new to the scene. Here are some things to consider to ensure you get the right EV for your needs.
Read moreDownloadThere’s a lot of talk about what electric vehicles can’t do and plenty of myths and misperceptions that might stop people from upgrading. But the people who actually own EVs? They’re overwhelmingly sold and recent research showed that 96% of EV owners would buy another one. That's why we're launching 'This Car Can...' We want to tap into that electric enthusiasm and convince more New Zealanders who may be on the fence to start running on cheap local electrons rather than on expensive imported foreign molecules.
EV owners love all the things their cars can do - and they can do a lot of different things these days. So we're asking them to share a story about their EV experience, upload a photo and tell us what their car can do, or send in a video.
We'll add them to the campaign page and we'll use the best ones on socials and in our advocacy to show how lots of different New Zealanders are benefitting from EVs in their lives.
We've also compiled a whole heap of information on why we love EVs - from the savings to the speed off the mark and everything inbetween.
Get in behind!