Towing with an electric car. Gerard's experience.

I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5 electric car, with the larger 72kWh battery giving a nominal around-town range of about 430 km. On the open road, this drops to around 400km or a bit less, due to drag and less regenerative braking. Starting the delivery journey of ND from Auckland to Youth Glide at Omarama was a bit of an eye-opener, as it showed how much the shape of the trailer can affect energy consumption. I can get to Matamata and back with SW tucked away in its sleek, low Cobra trailer. However, ND's trailer is very much a product of its time. I left One Tree Hill with 100%, collected ND at Drury and carried on to Cambridge to drop my wife off at her sister's place. A 23 kWh top-up to 80% cost me less than $14, so I carried on smugly.

A quick charge (at 211kW) at the DC high speed charger in Taupo took me back to 80% for $23.52 - though the town lights dimmed while I did so. I topped it up to 100% at the gliding club, running the charger lead out the window of the "glidetel" chalet. Fast charging can be detrimental to battery life on earlier electric cars, so I'm being conservative and doing the final top-up on an AC trickle charger (at 10A, so 2kW).

Smugness maintained, I pressed on next morning across the Desert Road, which climbs to a peak of 3,500' from Taupo's 1,300' while having more twists and turns than an election campaign. Imagine one's horror when, at the Army Museum in Waiouru, I discovered that I'd used half the charge in a mere 120 km! A good excuse for a coffee break.

The verdict: it's still a great car to own and has probably saved us more than $3,000 in petrol costs. Yes, you need to stop and charge but - most of the time - it will go further than my back or my bladder will allow anyway.