EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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Ultimate Geek
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#3474258 27-Mar-2026 08:24

calm:

Does anyone here know if https://smartevchargers.co.nz do good products? A fair bit cheaper than the OEM version. They have come up in search as mentioned in discussions as price points but nothing I could find on the quality of the products or customer service.

TIA

I've had a https://smartevchargers.co.nz/shop/wall-mount-ev-chargers/smart-ev-wall-charger-with-dlb-and-wifi/

for a year and a half and it seems to run fine.

MikeB4

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#3474265 27-Mar-2026 09:06

My brother in law drives a late model Nissan Leaf. We were discussing our thought on buying EV (considering the Omoda and Jaecoo) last weekend. He advised that his running costs have risen considerably of the last year or so and it appears that the cost of charging is going rise a lot over the next few years. It has me thinking that taking into account the cost of transition to EV and the cost of daily running is it worth it.

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

SaltyNZ

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#3474269 27-Mar-2026 09:23

MikeB4:

My brother in law drives a late model Nissan Leaf. We were discussing our thought on buying EV (considering the Omoda and Jaecoo) last weekend. He advised that his running costs have risen considerably of the last year or so and it appears that the cost of charging is going rise a lot over the next few years. It has me thinking that taking into account the cost of transition to EV and the cost of daily running is it worth it.

Costs will have to rise across the country in the next few years as we handle the backlog of infrastructure work.

If you're looking at it purely from a financial perspective you also have to factor in whether fossil fuel prices will rise as well. It's anyone's bet how long the disruption from this war will last, or where prices will settle back to when it's over. Given it will be months or possibly years for some repairs it seems reasonable to think prices will be somewhat elevated for a while yet.

But financials are not the only thing to consider. 99.99% of the time EVs are more convenient because you are not forced to go visit somewhere to recharge them every week whether it's convenient or not, because you just plug them in when you get home. They're also more fun to drive than an equivalent ICE because you have full torque instantly no matter the revs. They're quieter, they don't smell like petrol or diesel fumes.

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sen8or

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#3474270 27-Mar-2026 09:29

Depends entirely on when and how you charge it -

If you charge using public chargers you can pay 80c or so per kw (less if you use chargenet and have a genesis energy account, then it can be the same as your home costs. Add in RUCs @ 7.6c/km -

So a 60kw battery -

60kw x 80c = $ 48.00

If you get 350kms from a charge, RUCs will be $ 26.6

Total $ 74.40 for 350kms. Possibly slightly cheaper than petrol but depending on efficiency of the car.

Charging using public chargers is very costly. If you charge at home on offpeak rates, cost of energy will go to about $ 12 - 15 depending on rates, this makes the same 350kms cost $ 39 - 42 or thereabouts, quite a bit more economical. If you have solar, then those costs come down even more.

Servicing costs - probably a savings there

everettpsycho

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#3474275 27-Mar-2026 10:04

sen8or:

Depends entirely on when and how you charge it -

If you charge using public chargers you can pay 80c or so per kw (less if you use chargenet and have a genesis energy account, then it can be the same as your home costs. Add in RUCs @ 7.6c/km -

So a 60kw battery -

60kw x 80c = $ 48.00

If you get 350kms from a charge, RUCs will be $ 26.6

Total $ 74.40 for 350kms. Possibly slightly cheaper than petrol but depending on efficiency of the car.

Charging using public chargers is very costly. If you charge at home on offpeak rates, cost of energy will go to about $ 12 - 15 depending on rates, this makes the same 350kms cost $ 39 - 42 or thereabouts, quite a bit more economical. If you have solar, then those costs come down even more.

Servicing costs - probably a savings there

It's hard to compare charging costs, that is worst case scenario you've stated but if you have a car park that has AC charging you can park at while at work you can reduce your expense to 50c per kW. Issue there is a lot of those ac charging points limit you to 1 hour parking which makes them far less useful. Would be good to see more all day AC chargers in urban areas so those who can't charge at home could charge while at work at reduced rates compared to the DC chargers. I'm surprised no one has come up with car park chargers that are banks tied together to balance charging multiple vehicles over a day for commuter parking.

richms

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#3474347 27-Mar-2026 11:22

Scott3:

Mmm at all that cheap grey plastic on the sides. The mark of a crossover vehicle. Will look like crap in a few years which I think is their intention.

Richard rich.ms

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Shindig

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#3474355 27-Mar-2026 11:38

ChargeNet prices going up

Fast Chargers 25kW - 75kW $0.85 to $0.90

Hyperchargers 150kW + $0.90 to $0.95

The little things make the biggest difference.

gzt

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#3474357 27-Mar-2026 11:44

everettpsycho:

60kw x 80c = $ 48.00

If you get 350kms from a [60kw] charge, RUCs will be $ 26.6

and the converse of that view - away from home charging without a plan is more expensive, and getting only 350kms from a 60kw charge means you're driving a performance car or some kind and expect to be paying more in fuel for it. A family car average is going to look a lot better than that.

gzt

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#3474359 27-Mar-2026 11:52

richms: Mmm at all that cheap grey plastic on the sides. The mark of a crossover vehicle. Will look like crap in a few years which I think is their intention.

I have not looked closely but I assume that's a hard wearing abs that expects a few knocks.

I'm familiar with the kind of fade you speak of. I associate it with old Navarra's for some reason. I dont recall seeing that on a Toyota but i probably would not notice.

kangaroo13

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#3474360 27-Mar-2026 11:57

gzt:

... getting only 350kms from a 60kw charge means you're driving a performance car or some kind and expect to be paying more in fuel for it. A family car average is going to look a lot better than that.

Not really. 60kWh / 350 gives 171Wh/km. (17.1kWh/100km)

So, that's any car on the following list from 171Wh/km and below:

https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/energy-consumption-electric-car

which is more than half the list, including quite a lot of quite ordinary family-style cars.

HarmLessSolutions

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#3474362 27-Mar-2026 12:04

sen8or:

Depends entirely on when and how you charge it -

If you charge using public chargers you can pay 80c or so per kw (less if you use chargenet and have a genesis energy account, then it can be the same as your home costs. Add in RUCs @ 7.6c/km -

So a 60kw battery -

60kw x 80c = $ 48.00

If you get 350kms from a charge, RUCs will be $ 26.6

Total $ 74.40 for 350kms. Possibly slightly cheaper than petrol but depending on efficiency of the car.

Charging using public chargers is very costly. If you charge at home on offpeak rates, cost of energy will go to about $ 12 - 15 depending on rates, this makes the same 350kms cost $ 39 - 42 or thereabouts, quite a bit more economical. If you have solar, then those costs come down even more.

Servicing costs - probably a savings there

I find it easy to crunch the numbers, and simpler to visualise, if the costs are reduced down to per km.

For ease of calculation I'll use averages rounded to various situations. YMMV so adjust as required to suit your or current pricing and consumption.

EVs travel about 5km per kWh. Off peak rates/FIT forfeited for charging are around 20c/kWh. Therefore 4c/km. Add 7.6c/km RUC for a total of 11.6c/km.

For public EV charging at say 90c/kWh. Divide by 5 for 18c, plus 7.6c RUC = 25.6c/km.

FET RUC content is equal to 7.6c/km at ~10L/100km, so divide the petrol price of 10L by 100 (=L price/10) to get 34c/km at current $3.40 price on 91 grade. Roughly 3x the price of a home charged EV, or 33% more than public charging an EV.

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gzt

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#3474364 27-Mar-2026 12:18

kangaroo13: So, that's any car on the following list from 171Wh/km and below:

https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/energy-consumption-electric-car

You'll notice there are many vehicles on the list more efficient than that. Also the efficiency figure given is not necessarily an average in real world spring conditions. It's a relevant point though. It does pay to look and understand your own typical driving conditions if understanding economy is important. The tools to achieve that are not particularly integrated.

sen8or

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#3474368 27-Mar-2026 12:24

There are so many "it depends" scenarios with EVs, stop start urban/city driving, motorway driving (which in Auckland may not be much different than stop start at times), economy driving vs sport etc etc. The Atto 3 I wouldn't call a performance car, rated at 420 (430?) kms, have heard some customers achieving that range on a full charge, others mid-late 300s. I used to get late 200s - low 300s, but that was MG Xpower with Christchurch motorway / rural driving.

You'll likely not charge the full 60kw, maybe 48 - 54 or so (depending on how far down you let your battery go and whether you charge to 95 or 100%) so yes there will be fluctuations on the approximate cost, even if you assume 80% charge to get the 400kms

80% x 60kw = 48kw x 90c = 43.20 48kw @ 30c = $ 14.40

400kms @ 7.6c = $ 30.40 $ 30.40

Total = $ 73.60 $ 44.40 +/- difference in energy costs.

richms

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#3474373 27-Mar-2026 12:43

gzt:
kangaroo13: So, that's any car on the following list from 171Wh/km and below:

https://ev-database.org/cheatsheet/energy-consumption-electric-car

You'll notice there are many vehicles on the list more efficient than that. Also the efficiency figure given is not necessarily an average in real world spring conditions. It's a relevant point though. It does pay to look and understand your own typical driving conditions if understanding economy is important. The tools to achieve that are not particularly integrated.

In my model 3 povertyspec I see between a good of 117 putting around town, to in the 160s when doing expressway speeds with all the speeding up and slowing down negating all the ICE obsticles on the road.

Remember that the dash and specs only cover propulsion, and not aircon, audio, lights, and other things - I seem to lose 2% over a day just parked with sentry on, and I assume thats the same stuff running when driving too.

Richard rich.ms

dafman

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#3474392 27-Mar-2026 13:38

IMO - Not much incentive for people without home charging to buy an EV over ICE: pretty much the same daily running costs for less range and way longer wait time to 'fill up'.

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