Reviews of electric vehicles available in New Zealand, for corporate and business use.
Warning! Formidable Japanese electric vehicles (EVs) are coming to a dealer near you this year.
After reviewing European and American EVs last year, I was offered the Mitsubishi XLS SUV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to test during my holiday break.
The XLS currently retails at $50,990 plus on-road costs (NZD). This puts it right in the sweet spot for businesses looking for a workhorse, four-wheel drive SUV.
Unlike two years ago when high prices and low residuals were a real turnoff for businesses, electric and hybrid SUVs are now in high demand on the second-hand market, and...
Read more
In this exclusive series of articles by David Spratt, he explores the electric vehicle (EV) options for specific business uses.
Part 3: Evaluating the Volkswagen e-Golf electric car.
It may be that I have now test driven one too many electric vehicles (EVs), but I have become increasingly irritated by the clunky and, dare I say, ugly designs that have been rolled out by some manufacturers.
Not the e-Golf, though. Volkswagen addresses this design challenge with a vehicle that feels familiar, comfortable and accessible from the moment you climb into it. Built from the ground up to...
Read more
In this exclusive series of articles by David Spratt, he explores the electric vehicle (EV) options for specific business uses.
Part 2: Evaluating the Tesla Model S P100D electric car
What do you get when you mix an eccentric, Los Angeles-based, internet billionaire with the desire to build an electric vehicle with speed and acceleration to challenge the world’s top performance cars?
The answer is the Tesla 100S, complete with vegan leather seats and “bio-weapon defence mode” to keep the car’s air fresh in case of anthrax attack.
I started test-driving the Tesla S (P100D...
Read more
In this exclusive new series of articles, I explore the electric vehicle (EV) options for specific business uses. We are grateful to the car companies* for supplying their EVs to test-drive, charge and parade around Auckland.
Part 1: Evaluating the BMW i3 electric vehicle
The reality for all businesses is that electric vehicles (EVs) have to deliver on the promise of performance, economics and relevance. Many business vehicles never leave town. Whether they are driven from business to business by busy salespeople or thrashed by couriers, what is required is a car that is reliable,...
Read more