It’s certainly becoming more apparent that fuel and driving around NZ is adding up.
I managed to buy at the snapshot price (bulk fuel via the Z app) a week before the prices went from $2.66 per litre to over $3 per litre.
Would recommend signing up to all the fuel station apps to get the discounts of fuel fill ups too. Got 20c off per litre, which isn’t massive but every little helps.
Had signed up for a Vipassana retreat in Thailand this May, but this week, even Thailand is advising business to be modest with fuel, including airlines. So going to cancel that booking so not to get stuck there.
Living on a boat at the moment, which helps with the option wind powered travel if needing to move from North to South Island.
But definitely noting the cost of travel from Christchurch to Auckland last week cost more in fuel for the camper than it did for the plan ticket down.
Have another drive down to Wellington for a sit, but might be considering only local sits moving forward to save costs on fuel.
It seems handy to have a hybrid car, which doesn’t take as much, but with things moving fast, feeling inclined to be more conservative with road and air travel.
@Felinelover appreciate your thoughts. I only drive very locally so my need for range is negligible. Travelling the last year through Europe and UK we noted so many EVs and charging facilities. Also in Vietnam 2 years ago we were amazed at how prevalent. It’s an interesting time to be alive Now I need to check my closest charging point in case I can’t charge at home. Test driving a cherry today and MG next week
You can really charge them with a regular extension cord. We did that when we were staying with my parents house on the East Coast when my Dad was ill (after driving that EV across country with the dog). As long as you’re not driving far each day that works fine as well. It’s just much slower to charge, but if you’re parked at home most of the day and overnight it can work out fine.
The other thing people don’t understand about EVs until you own/use one: higher ranges are useless as batteries charge fastest when they are depleted. As they fill up, they begin to replenish slower. Some of this is the nature of the battery and some is the software added on. You get the fastest miles/minute charging rate usually in the first 10-20 minutes if charging. That’s typically enough for a couple of hours of highway driving before stopping again for another 10 minutes. Now, that first stop, say you stayed 40 minutes instead of 20? Your charging rate slows so it becomes a moot point. It isn’t that the first charge gets you 2 hours, so staying twice as long gets you 4 hours. It’s more like staying twice as long gets you 2.5 hours. You are better off leaving after that first 20 minutes and making another quick stop. That was a big learning curve for us with EVs (and we’ve been driving one since 2018), but once you learn it long road trips are easy peasy.
Even if you had a 500 mile range battery, no way you’d want to hang around a charger long enough to ‘fill it up’ like you would a gas engine. It’s a different paradigm altogether.
Sure, anything plugged in is a fire hazard. It’s actually reasonable risk to plug in an EV assuming there is a fuse box or breaker panel.
Level 2 chargers are also a fire risk. EVs themselves are a fire risk, if they catch fire. Gas cars are a fire risk, as are hybrids, if they catch fire.
There were some recalls a few years ago where some EV manufacturers advised owners to not plug in their cars overnight, but those were resolved.
Really people plug in cars all the time. Of course if the cord is outdoors it should be outdoor rated, as common sense would dictate.
Really we have several years of EV experience behind us, we’re good, thanks.
@BonnyinBrighton The idyllic scene you post here brings back childhood memories of loving artwork by Currier & Ives. Their prints often portrayed comfy, safe, agrarian landscapes dotted with 19th-century stone homes kept warm by well-tended fireplaces and of course, a dinnertime stew bubbling away on the open hearth.
@ziggy i flew BNE-SYD on the weekend & drove 3 hours to Bathurst. E10 fuel was around $2.25/lt on the highway and regionally, the highest price I saw was $2.47. I went to fill up the hire car at a BP servo at Mascot right near the airport and every bowser had a sign “no fuel”. I drove a few blocks to an independent servo and had no problem and paid $2.27. When I dropped the car back to AVIS at the cairport they told me they were charging $7.00 per litre (yes $7.00) if they had to fill up the car. Talk about price gouging!
While this fuel price explosion is going on I will be using our public transport system in Brisbane, where ever possible. Every trip on a bus, train or ferry is only 50 cents.
My goodness @Crookie, AVIS really capitalising on the fuel issue! Glad you found a petrol station not too far from the airport and price not too high. When I returned home yesterday, unleaded was $2.49/litre at one servo and $2.62 (!!) at another but couldn’t see if any bowsers weren’t operating. No customers for the latter - surprise, surprise!
SO glad to be seeing this as I contemplate my “where to next”, which has been Australia for the last few months, up until this whole … situation arose. Now I am grappling with whether I should take the chance or head somewhere else from Europe, or within Europe. It’s messy everywhere so I reckon it’s a proverbial roll of the dice.
Petrol in Germany is astronomical in price on an average day, so try to avoid fueling up there if you can! Last summer was something like 1.65 euro/litre, and that was the lowest price I was seeing!
Ahh another comment I’m glad to be seeing here! I’m in Europe and have been looking at heading to Australia and SE Asia, with plans of only doing sits in Australia, but it’s great to have insight for all areas of that part of the world! Any further you might have with regard to the current situation, please do share!
In Spain, yesterday, diesel reached 2€/litre. The prices os gas are a bit lower. Before the crisis, it used to be the opposite, diesel was a bit cheaper.
Now I need to check my closest charging point in case I can’t charge at home. Test driving a cherry today and MG next week 
But yes, I will definitely use public transport if I need to go anywhere as long as it remains at .50 cents a trip.