EV (electric vehicle) News and Discussion

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527 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3482223 19-Apr-2026 17:41

gzt: Radio NZ reviews EV and Solar low interest loans and mortgage add-ons:

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/top/592773/so-you-want-to-buy-an-ev-here-s-what-your-bank-could-offer

Westpac comes out on top for existing mortgage customers with $50k interest free over five years.

For new or existing customers without a mortgage Westpac offers a 7.99% EV personal loan. That is definitely way better than retail finance if you don't have a mortgage to draw from.

We got a three year 1% loan from ANZ. We did not cash in our 6% term deposits with them.

I could not be bothered changing banks.

Otautahi Christchurch

Technofreak

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#3482328 19-Apr-2026 22:45

HarmLessSolutions:

Here we go. The NZ Herald knows better than us EV owners. What a load of misinformed BS

I'm not sure I would say it was a load of misinformed BS. While some of the commentary was generalised, there were some good points made. Overall I thought it wasn't too bad for a mainstream publication.

I'd be more than a little concerned about long term suppport if I were the owner of any Chinese brand.

While EV batteries are touted as being recyclable there doesn't seem to be much recycling actually happening. Repurposing yes, recycyling not so much.

This popped up on You Tube today. It backs up some of what the Herald item said. Interesting comparisions with real estate in China and Evergrande.

https://youtu.be/tS_fJJxMjn4?si=9hb1xYhXbsgysjqN

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SaltyNZ

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2degrees

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#3482358 20-Apr-2026 08:52

Technofreak:

HarmLessSolutions:

Here we go. The NZ Herald knows better than us EV owners. What a load of misinformed BS

I'm not sure I would say it was a load of misinformed BS. While some of the commentary was generalised, there were some good points made. Overall I thought it wasn't too bad for a mainstream publication.

I'd be more than a little concerned about long term suppport if I were the owner of any Chinese brand.

While EV batteries are touted as being recyclable there doesn't seem to be much recycling actually happening. Repurposing yes, recycyling not so much.

This popped up on You Tube today. It backs up some of what the Herald item said. Interesting comparisions with real estate in China and Evergrande.

https://youtu.be/tS_fJJxMjn4?si=9hb1xYhXbsgysjqN

There's plenty of battery recycling happening. Just not here.

As for long term support, it's a consideration, sure. But these companies are churning out millions of cars to sell worldwide. Some of them will fail, that's the nature of business. But I don't see the likes of BYD suddenly falling off a cliff.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

kangaroo13

106 posts

Master Geek
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#3482364 20-Apr-2026 09:19

SaltyNZ:

HarmLessSolutions:

Here we go. The NZ Herald knows better than us EV owners. What a load of misinformed BS

..

.

There's plenty of battery recycling happening. Just not here.

So we should use this as a reason to push for investment into battery recycling, not as an excuse to resist the transition and continue to f@ the environment by perpetuating use of ICE cars. The recycling technology exists (and no doubt can be improved at scale), and we still have time if we lay the groundwork now, given that most EVs have a usable life of 10 years or more

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3482399 20-Apr-2026 10:26

kangaroo13:

SaltyNZ:

There's plenty of battery recycling happening. Just not here.

So we should use this as a reason to push for investment into battery recycling, not as an excuse to resist the transition and continue to f@ the environment by perpetuating use of ICE cars. The recycling technology exists (and no doubt can be improved at scale), and we still have time if we lay the groundwork now, given that most EVs have a usable life of 10 years or more

Way more than ten years. And then the battery probably has ten + years as stationary storage. Finally recycling - does it make sense to do it here or to send to Aus or somewhere with economy of scale

Otautahi Christchurch

HarmLessSolutions

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#3482401 20-Apr-2026 10:35

fastbike:

kangaroo13:

So we should use this as a reason to push for investment into battery recycling, not as an excuse to resist the transition and continue to f@ the environment by perpetuating use of ICE cars. The recycling technology exists (and no doubt can be improved at scale), and we still have time if we lay the groundwork now, given that most EVs have a usable life of 10 years or more

Way more than ten years. And then the battery probably has ten + years as stationary storage. Finally recycling - does it make sense to do it here or to send to Aus or somewhere with economy of scale

Therein lies the cause of the recycling delay. Recycling will only become economical when there are batteries that have reached the end of their usable lives either in vehicle or repurposed for home/static storage. That situation has yet to arrive in most countries and is likely to take many years to eventuate, then recycling will become a viable proposition as feedstock becomes available.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

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gzt

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#3482502 20-Apr-2026 13:10

Those are very good points. People tend to think of battery end-of-life in terms of the older nissan leaf models.

Like mine ; ).

Newer vehicle battery systems are not subject to the same degradation. Anyway, I almost always use the one or two hour delay button on my 8A slow charger to let the system cool off before charging and it seems to be pretty happy with all the tlc so far.

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#3482512 20-Apr-2026 13:36

gzt: Those are very good points. People tend to think of battery end-of-life in terms of the older nissan leaf models.

Like mine ; ).

Newer vehicle battery systems are not subject to the same degradation. Anyway, I almost always use the one or two hour delay button on my 8A slow charger to let the system cool off before charging and it seems to be pretty happy with all the tlc so far.

The Meridian Zero charger at Springs Junction uses two containers filled with old 24kWh Leaf batteries.

There is also the open source Battery Emulator project which now has tens of thousands of implementations, including many here in Aotearoa. In fact, I know of one very close to my house with 2 Leaf batteries and another a few miles away that has 4 Leaf batteries in a container. The last time I looked the project had integrations for all major EV batteries, although at varying levels of maturity.

So when your Leaf is no longer usable as a car there is a second life awaiting. IIRC the battery needs to have better than 25% SoH to be a suitable donor.

Otautahi Christchurch

CokemonZ

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#3482551 20-Apr-2026 15:01

fastbike:

gzt: Those are very good points. People tend to think of battery end-of-life in terms of the older nissan leaf models.

Like mine ; ).

Newer vehicle battery systems are not subject to the same degradation. Anyway, I almost always use the one or two hour delay button on my 8A slow charger to let the system cool off before charging and it seems to be pretty happy with all the tlc so far.

The Meridian Zero charger at Springs Junction uses two containers filled with old 24kWh Leaf batteries.

There is also the open source Battery Emulator project which now has tens of thousands of implementations, including many here in Aotearoa. In fact, I know of one very close to my house with 2 Leaf batteries and another a few miles away that has 4 Leaf batteries in a container. The last time I looked the project had integrations for all major EV batteries, although at varying levels of maturity.

So when your Leaf is no longer usable as a car there is a second life awaiting. IIRC the battery needs to have better than 25% SoH to be a suitable donor.

This is amazing!

I've just got a quote to get my leaf battery upgraded, and was wondering what to do with it. In the solar thread I'm working on getting solar and debating about a battery.

Looks like I'm not debating anymore!

fastbike

527 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 404

#3482552 20-Apr-2026 15:03

CokemonZ:

This is amazing!

I've just got a quote to get my leaf battery upgraded, and was wondering what to do with it. In the solar thread I'm working on getting solar and debating about a battery.

Looks like I'm not debating anymore!

If you jump on the discord server (requires a small sub $) I can point you in the direction of some local installations.

Otautahi Christchurch

HarmLessSolutions

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#3482554 20-Apr-2026 15:06

fastbike:

gzt: Those are very good points. People tend to think of battery end-of-life in terms of the older nissan leaf models.

Like mine ; ).

Newer vehicle battery systems are not subject to the same degradation. Anyway, I almost always use the one or two hour delay button on my 8A slow charger to let the system cool off before charging and it seems to be pretty happy with all the tlc so far.

The Meridian Zero charger at Springs Junction uses two containers filled with old 24kWh Leaf batteries.

There is also the open source Battery Emulator project which now has tens of thousands of implementations, including many here in Aotearoa. In fact, I know of one very close to my house with 2 Leaf batteries and another a few miles away that has 4 Leaf batteries in a container. The last time I looked the project had integrations for all major EV batteries, although at varying levels of maturity.

So when your Leaf is no longer usable as a car there is a second life awaiting. IIRC the battery needs to have better than 25% SoH to be a suitable donor.

Counties Energy also has a public EV charging facility at Mercer that is powered via recycled Leaf batteries.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

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johno1234

3487 posts

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#3482557 20-Apr-2026 15:10

From whence are these chargers charged?

HarmLessSolutions

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#3482560 20-Apr-2026 15:22

johno1234:

From whence are these chargers charged?

I would assume from the grid. By having a battery acting as a 'reservoir' it avoids the requirement for a supply cable to the facility capable of delivering the full 180kW supply. By the sounds of this the grid supply is good for 120kW with the battery being able to boost that to 180kW.

https://www.harmlesssolutions.co.nz/

CokemonZ

1129 posts

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#3482563 20-Apr-2026 15:32

fastbike:

CokemonZ:

This is amazing!

I've just got a quote to get my leaf battery upgraded, and was wondering what to do with it. In the solar thread I'm working on getting solar and debating about a battery.

Looks like I'm not debating anymore!

If you jump on the discord server (requires a small sub $) I can point you in the direction of some local installations.

The discord? Geekzone or the dalathegreat one?

gzt

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#3482566 20-Apr-2026 15:34

Continuing in right topic from wrong topic..

@wellygary:
@pdh:

Regen breaking is nice - but there are significant losses.
Good point about trailer aero - but (PU+trailer) decreased mileage is seen in urban (ie: low-speed) use as well.

I believe Auckland's ev buses are 12 m (double-decker) and 13 or 13.5 m (single-decker).
I can find lots of data on their expected (hoped-for) range - but none on what they actually achieve.
Take that as you will.

OK - I fell back on the dreaded Ai to locate some real-world ev bus data:
(I like Perplexity because it gives me sources which I can verify.)

From a Dutch study (100 buses over 10 months), they got 1.15 kWh/km for 12m and 1.63 for 18m.
(www.sustainable-bus.com)

Given that Holland is a bit flatter than Auckland is, but probably gets a bit colder - I'd say swings and roundabouts.
Their data is likely quite attributable to us.
I's suggest that their 18m single-decker is closer to our 12m double-decker in weight if not aero.

Perplexity comes up with another dozen studies - from Bonn, Knoxville, etc.
All in a range of 1-2.5 - depending on length, load, temperature & hilliness.

So I don't think I was all that pessimistic in my guesstimate...

AT estimate their overall EV bus fleet is 1.07kwh/km,

(Table 31 page 68)

https://environment.govt.nz/assets/publications/Measuring-Emissions-2024/Measuring-emissions_Detailed-guide_2024_ME1829.pdf

It's easy to agree with your statement. The purpose of the data was estimating emissions or calculation for emissions saved. The data underlying the example was provided by Auckland Transport. It's unclear what AT might have based that on. In any case, it is what they had to work with.

I see electric buses in Utrecht have heated seats. That might consume a few watts in wintertime ; ).

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