Hawkes Bay Today
  • Hawke's Bay Today home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Havelock North
  • Central Hawke's Bay
  • Tararua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Napier
  • Hastings
  • Dannevirke
  • Gisborne

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Hawkes Bay Today

Peter Shand: Don't write off EV abilities for our rural communities

By Peter Shand
Hawkes Bay Today·
21 Jul, 2019 09:22 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Nissan's electric van is increasingly being used by growers and tradies.

Nissan's electric van is increasingly being used by growers and tradies.

Farmers could make big cost savings in the medium to long term by going electric.

From what I've read and heard, the strongest objection to a proposed "greenhouse tax" on gas-guzzling new vehicles comes from some farmers.

The argument goes something like this: Farmers need powerful all-terrain vehicles to do the job (a Nissan Leaf simply won't haul a trailer-load of bobby calves) so this is another unnecessary cost on the country's economic backbone. To add insult, electric car chargers are scarce in remote rural areas.

Fair enough. I understand that radical change — even with the urgent aim of combating climate change — can be upsetting, disconcerting and, in the words of Al Gore, inconvenient.

But change can also usher in opportunity, a way of seeing things differently, and the possibility of going about them in a better way. It's here I urge the farming community not to throw the baby away with the bathwater, as a shift to electrification could be a big cost-saver in the medium to long term.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

First, a quick defence of the vilified Nissan Leaf. It is modestly powerful (90hp), easily capable of towing laden trailers (though this will drain its battery packs more quickly). Nissan also puts out a van version, increasingly used by growers and tradies. At the Whangarei Growers' Market on on Saturday mornings, at least two stall-holders use these vehicles.

Just this week, Nissan launched a 160hp ute with a 400km range and 490kg towing capacity.

If this is a little underdone for your needs, just remember there is now a much broader range of electric vehicles than Nissan to choose from (unfortunately no tractors yet) — and the Rivian might just have the grunt more to farmers' liking. Boasting more than 400hp, capable of towing 4 tonnes, and with a range of over 650km, its top-spec ute would leave most, if not all, of its rivals in the dust.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ford and Amazon are financially backing efforts to mass-produce the Rivian, with a goal to manufacture 20,000 in 2021 (when the feebate is due to kick in) and twice as many the following year. It will probably start off being fairly expensive — don't expect change from $100,000 — but will get cheaper as mass production kicks in.

However, under the Government's proposed feebate, budding purchasers would save $11,000 ($8000 from the 100% electric incentive and $3000 from not buying a gas-guzzler) and the policy will hopefully encourage the sale of such vehicles in New Zealand (the Rivian is about to be launched in Australia).

As for the lack of rural chargers, the power point in your garage will do just fine, using NZ-made renewable power at the cheap night rate. You could potentially speed things up a bit with higher-amp or, in some cases, three-phase power (what does your cow shed run off?).

But even bigger savings will come from installing solar panels on your buildings when you reroof, maybe even installing a Tesla battery unit and fit-for-purpose car chargers, and running, if possible, your entire fleet, from the quad bike to the go-to- town-car, off electric.

It might seem a little far-fetched right now but these are a rapidly progressing technologies, getting cheaper all the time, and Kiwi farmers are renowned for their innovation, adaptability and willingness to change.

Electricity is far more efficient and cleaner than oil-based alternatives — but, importantly to farmers, it is also much cheaper.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash

Hawkes Bay Today

'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit

Hawkes Bay Today

One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash
Hawkes Bay Today

Motorbike rider seriously injured in Central Hawke's Bay crash

The rider was taken to hospital after a motorbike v car collision at Waipukurau.

15 Jul 11:58 PM
'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit
Hawkes Bay Today

'Far out': Napier ice swimmer's intense sensation after pushing himself to new limit

15 Jul 10:24 PM
One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints
Hawkes Bay Today

One month of new $824m highway: No crashes, no potholes, no complaints

15 Jul 08:54 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Hawke's Bay Today e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Hawke's Bay Today
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP