Gav’s Electric Vehicle Conversion
May 22nd, 2008Becky and I are damn lucky that we don’t have to drive much. We use the car about once per week. Petrol is now just under NZ$2 per litre (about US$5.70 per gallon). No, fuel is not as expensive as it is in Norway, but when the nice man at the petrol station sincerely says, “I’m sorry,” when he reads out what you owe after a fill up, it’s clear that things are getting weird. And we only drive a Nissan March microcar, which is about as powerful as a large motorcycle. AND this is just the beginning of the engineered energy scarcity death grip.
Like clockwork, at times like this, when gas prices seem to pinch, the electric car fantasies begin. For over a decade, I’ve had them. And, for almost as long, I’ve been gritting my teeth and whispering, “Bullshit,” when I read about the alleged excuses about why electric cars aren’t ubiquitous.
I thought that I’d look into the EV scene in New Zealand—just to see what was up. You know, “clean green” New Zealand, and all of that….
I found a lot of empty words by politicians and corporations about how New Zealand is going to lead the world in EV use… Someday.
Then I found Gav’s Electric Vehicle Conversion site, and spent the last several hours reading through all of it—as well as burning through my metered bandwidth watching his videos.
Gavin Shoebridge is a national hero, in my opinion.
Why?
Despite the rhetoric, New Zealand is very hostile towards EVs. The fully batshit insane regulations and fees and bureaucratic hoops are clearly designed with one purpose in mind: To keep EVs off the road. I know, I know, I’m sure the government has a good reason for charging Gavin the same road usage fees to operate his EV as they charge for someone to run a 3.5 ton diesel truck. And, of course, former Soviet dissidents might be able to imagine what it would take to have a home built electric vehicle certified for the road here. (Import one from abroad, you say: ask Ulrich Schmid about that.) Even if what Gavin had to go through is just the insane whims of an out of touch government, that’s no excuse.
After watching and reading his candid and detailed account, I can tell that Gavin is a very nice guy who doesn’t have unkind things to say about anyone. He just slogged through the costs and red tape, all on his own. Ears back, he went for it. When costs went over budget, he received donations from around the world that allowed him to realize his dream of building an electric car.
But where, in the name of the vengeful Skygod, is the New Zealand Government on this? Where are the Greens on this!?
Shame. Shame. Shame.
The fact that a man has to go through all of this to get an electric car on the road in a supposedly “clean and green” country is A NATIONAL DISGRACE and a total f*@#$%& joke. It’s painful for me to say this, but it’s true.
We are all being bled dry by the fat bastards in the oil companies and the governments that serve them. The New Zealand government has both trotters deep in the trough. The goods and services tax on petrol is a percentage of the cost. The higher petrol goes, the better, for the government. It means more revenue.
Gavin writes:
One question I was asked several times (and which stuck in my mind) was, “What sort of incentive do you get from the government to do this?” which of course the answer is “None”. The people asking the question were surprised with the answer and it got me thinking, just what does the self-proclaimed Clean & Green government of NZ have as it’s priorities? Considering our country’s projected clean & green image It’s a little saddening that clean transport isn’t one of those priorities. But still, it doesn’t deter me from wanting to convert another EV one day!
It’s not only that there’s no incentive, which, in and of itself, is nuts. The red tape and compliance costs are the shockers. This guy is a national hero. That’s it. I can’t believe he did it.
Excuse me, I have to go dunk my head in cold water before it explodes. I just go off my rocker when I see The Matrix operating in New Zealand; that is, the twin scams of Telecom and energy related issues.
…I hope Gavin puts his donation button back up again.
The province of British Columbia (Canada) passed a law 5 weeks ago that permits electric cars on all roads with a speed posted of 40 km per hour.
We’re thinking of buying a Citroen Berlingo Multispace,
http://www.citroen.co.uk/new-cars/citroen-berlingo-multispace/
not sure if they sell them in NZ, (just checked and seems you only get the van version).
Anyway, doing a bit of research on them, it seems Citroen, and Peugeot, made an electric version of the van from the late 90’s until 2005.
More info on it here… http://www.berlingo-e.co.uk/
Looks like they have quite a following. One would be right at home on your farm.
Wow. This guy is neet, and what a car. I watched most of his videos but felt like puking when I saw the hoops he had to go through and what he had to pay to get his car on the road. I had to laugh when he didn’t want to know what NH meant. And it’s really sweet for me to know that NH means New Hampshire, and there is are places to go to in the U.S. for conversion motors. Geez Louis. At least we still makes some things of utility and value here in the U.S.
Unlike Pennsylvania in the U.S. the state of Ohio doesn’t require vehicle inspections. Just buy a car in Ohio and get the mechanics to work over there (just 5 miles away from me).
Grass cutting is getting into gear here in the U.S. and I’ve been considering either getting a sheep to “cut” our large lawn, finding an electronic riding mower, buying a Neutron and doing the damn thing walking, or converting a mower myself to a battery vehicle.
Just last week people were talking about grass cutting, and I had a group of people look at me in shock when I said that geez I think we’re going to have to revise the zoning ordinances on how high you can let your grass grow given gasoline prices. That would be an equivalent statement to “use a clothesline to dry your clothes.” How important is it really in the scheme of things to have your grass a certain length?
Anyways, this world is lost if people are more worried about cutting their grass than storing food and salvaging their savings from the engineered money death grip.
It might be the Slovak in me (I’m second generation 100% – maybe that is why Gavin succeeded – Slovak wife and all- heh, heh)but I’m bound and determined not to let the engineered energy scarcity death grip ruin the peaceful enjoyment of my life more than it has to.
Hah. In all of my “spare time” I’ll convert that John Deere into an electic lawn mower.