Battle of wearables
It was the battle of the wearables at the recent Lincoln University Demonstration Dairy Farm Focus Day with presentations of three different electronic monitoring and management systems.
That’s probably because, despite the electric powerhouses like Tesla or Rivian making lots of promises, to date they haven’t come to the party.
Now it looks like they’ve both been trumped, with SAIC Motor and subsidiary LDV showing the first electric ute available for purchase in New Zealand.
The LDV EVT60 is based around its sibling bi-turbo diesel T60, first seen in NZ a few years ago. Currently only available in rear wheel drive only, a 130kW, single motor set-up delivers 310 Nm torque and a 325km range, using a 88.5kW battery pack located under the centre of the vehicle.
Scheduled for production in September 2022 in China, the first examples available to drive away should land by the end of the year or early 2023. While final pricing and spec is just a little vague, the company has confirmed that it will be below $80,000 meaning it will attract the clean vehicle subsidy that currently sits at $8,625.
The double-cab format with a conventional rear well-side deck has a load rating of 900kg with a towing capacity of 1,000kg.
The company notes that using the vehicle at its maximum towing capacity will reduce its overall range by around 50%. Charging is AC or DC and safety specifications will include autonomous emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, rear camera, radar and stability control.
Vehicles can be reserved with a refundable $1,000 deposit at the LDV NZ website:
www.ldv.co.nz.
