Looks like following Countdown pulling out, AA SmartFuel is shutting down.
I also got an email from Countdown:
Everyday Rewards is coming 1 February 2024
We are launching a new loyalty programme early next year that will replace Onecard and we’re proud to announce bp as our foundation partner.
Sounds like without BP and Contdown, AA SmartFuel aren’t able to continue.
We replaced our Corolla with a Leaf last year so we don’t have to worry anymore about rising petrol prices & for environmental reasons. Initially we had range anxiety, but we’re very happy with it now. Sure, long trips can be annoying, but we have a camper van as backup. But even with our Leaf we could do long trips, just would have to QC and take a break every 60-90 minutes.
While it’s not an option for everyone, I think it makes a lot of sense for many people to go for an EV. Even if you don’t have the cash, you could get a cheap green loan and be much better off in the long run.
It also drives so much better than an ICE, very quiet and continuous traction.
I’m pretty sure National indicated that Road User Charges for EVs are coming early next year, plus the removal of rebates, so owning and running an EV is probably about to get a lot more expensive if recent polls are anything to go by.
We also have a leaf, but don’t use it for long trips. I’d like to get a longer range EV, but not sure it wil happen now. I get the feeling we are about to become an international embarassment when it comes to climate action.
Yep they said that, but they still don’t know what to do with phevs… As then they would pay twice.
Even with RUC added, assuming $70/1000km, we save about 2-3k / year compared to our Corolla.
And yes you’re right, if National wins, climate action is taking a step back. That’s why we’ll vote Greens.
We definitely don’t drive enough to save $2k a year! When we had two petrol cars, we would have spent probably $2k a year on fuel 😆
I work from home most of the time, but even when I used to go to the office each day I’d take a train (drive to train station because we’re on the edge of walking distance and I’m lazy). So we don’t do all that many KMs.
We worked out just for dropping off and picking up kids from school (we live rurally) that it was $1800/year in our Santa Fe vs $200/year in our Leaf if we used grid power to run it. As it turns out our small solar system (3kw) is enough to keep it charged most of the year. RUCs will obviously add to that but still a saving. Plus I like not giving money to some of those tinpot oil exporters or killing the environment for the kids.
That’s great! A second hand leaf is a nice budget-ish way of using less petrol, but when it comes to getting a long range EV finances definitely come into it, and I doubt it adds up anymore for most people.
Agreed. Our leaf was $16500 after rebate, and at 40kwh has about 240km of range. More would be nice as that puts the nearer major centres just in range return without charging but with little margin left. Fast chargers obviously make those longer range trips more viable though.
I do recall seeing data saying something like (making up a number here) 97% of trips were under 100km but I know people feel anxiety for those few longer trips. Once you get into the routine over charging at night as needed (or in the day with solar in our case) it’s not much of an issue I find but definitely a learning experience.
We bought our leaf as a second car. It was bought to replace a car that never went further than the train station or supermarket. In the end we got one that now has about 130km range on a charge. We now use it for almost all our driving. It gets us anywhere in the Wellington area and home again.
Our petrol car is only used for long trips now. But I’d love an EV that could go 400km without fast charging to 80% five times, I just don’t want to pay a house deposit to save a few hundred in petrol a year.
https://i.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/132900566/all-vehicles-to-move-to-road-user-charges-under-national-including-evs
Everyone will pay RUCs is the plan. Probably the simplest option.
… that actually seems like a pretty reasonable policy - what is this!?. Devil in the details - like I’d probably support setting the pricing brackets such that hybrids and EVs are slightly cheaper per km than the equivalent class petrol car, and cynically I can’t help but expect someone to suggest something idiotic like a RUC on bicycles - but in a post-petrol world, RUC seems like the most sensible way to maintain user-pays taxes to fund roading infrastructure
Yup, even PHEV owners I’ve spoken to accept the idea.
Personally, I think it would be the simplest option by far to just do it by weight, we already have emissions levies on fuel.
You can set it to convert your petrol discount into chargenet credits (1c discount = 25c in chargenet credit). I’m sitting on about $80 which will easily pay for a cross-country road trip.
The last big hurdle for EVs, in my view, is towing. Every so often, I do a trip towing a trailer with a number of sea kayaks on, and it typically adds 50% to my fuel use. And these are long trips, Wellington to Coromandel for example.
It would mean a huge increase in range, KWH capacity of the pack, better fast charging, and chargers set up so I don’t have to un-hitch the trailer to make that feasible.
In the meantime, I don’t use my own car for commuting, it’s used for weekend running around and holidays, so the upfront cost of an EV doesn’t make sense.