We had a few changes as we had planned to put the e-NV200 into the basement, but that was a tight fit getting the tilt door closed, so we had to put the Kia Sorento in the basement and the EV goes in the garage. That meant removing the roof rack and storing it for some future trip to the mainland as there's less than 150mm clearance between the top of the van and the garage door.
We have fitted monsoon shields over the front doors and added plastic mud flaps on all four wheel arches. The latter do stop a little dirt being thrown around and look fine.
Jim also attacked the slight rust on the six roof rack mounts on the roof. These were originally bunged up with a plastic bung and a paper washer. Using a Dremel tool, he ground away the rust and etched primed the surface, then primed and painted the area. To stop further moisture, he bought some 8mm screws and large washers. He made some rubber gaskets out of a piece of old fish pond liner and coated the gaskets with silicone grease and screwed everything down. The 20mm long screws did not need to be cut.
While he was looking at the roof, he noticed a couple of other light rust spots, one of which has already been treated by rust killer, so he is waiting for a few more fine days to resolve these.
Lynette has been driving the van and really enjoys it. With the large mirrors and rear viewing camera, she's having no problem backing it. And its turning circle is amazing. It's far better than the Suzuki Nomade.
The tyre pressure has been dropped to 32 pounds and the Eco mode switched off. It drives wonderfully. With the hills we have here on Waiheke Island and the mainly 50kph speed limit, we are regenerating 40% of the power we use and our consumption is down to 15.3 kWH per 100 km. It was about 21 when we picked it up and dropped down to 18 kWH/100km by the time we got home.
We really aren’t noticing the changing cost as we charge only when the sun is shining and we are generating power from our grid tie system. We charge it after every two or three trips around the island and it doesn't take more than three hours.
The worst complaint is the radio. It's a Japanese unit which doesn't cover the NZ FM band, so Auto Court had a converter fitted. Unfortunately, it misses a small portion of the NZ FM band, and that's where the Coast is, so we have switched to The Breeze for now. The antenna is very small and therefore the reception is not the best.
Jim has a few other projects planned. He should get the rust proofing paint in a month or so and then that has to be applied. Installing his ham radio transceiver is also on the list but he has to sort out a folding antenna, so it can be lowered prior to entering the garage. Further down the list are a new FM radio antenna and then a sleeping platform at wheel arch level, so that we can do a few more camping trips to the mainland.
Jim went to the Auckland EV World Expo on Saturday 11 August. The show had a range of electric vehicles from push bikes, motor cycles with electric motors, new and used cars from Series 1 Leafs to expensive new Teslas and BMWs. There was a quad bike, and smaller ATV units plus two trucks.
He meet Paul and Simon who supply the three pin EV chargers. He also caught up with Carl from Blue Cars. Carl also lives on Waiheke and Jim had met him before we picked up our van. He reckons that they aren’t too far away from making add-on batteries to provide more range for vehicles.
The advertising 1957 Ford Fairlane, called Evie, that Mercury are using for EV advertising was also there. The story of this vehicle can be found at https://www.mercury.co.nz/Evie/The-story-so-far
The most unusual EV was an aluminium fishing boat that was driven by an inboard/outboard drive. The ICE motor had been removed and an electric motor installed in its place. The centre of the hull was filled with a stack of batteries, We couldn't see the battery cover, but looking at the floor, it must have been substantial and had a massive gasket to stop the salt water getting near the batteries. One wonders where the boat gets charged.
Apparently, EV numbers in NZ have been doubling every year. It will be interesting to see if this year's 9,000 EVs doubles next year. The Government's and Goff's fuel taxes are certainly going to give that some impetus.
Below are a few photos of some of the EVs at EV World Expo,
Evie and what she has under the hood.
The electric boat and Inboard/Outboard
Sorry about the quality of the battery photo
An electric scooter above and an electric bike that looks like a 1910 Harley, below.
Little Flick, the electric fire engine above.
Electric trucks are coming fast.
The truck above can carry 5 tonnes on its 3 tonne chassis, and Palmerston North are using the electric rubbish truck below.
Both have a range of around 250km per charge.
Both have a range of around 250km per charge.
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