Rarotongan iMiev

I shipped my iMiev from Honolulu to Rarotonga via Auckland. 20' shipping container took 74 days. It arrived in one piece. At being loaded into the container in Honolulu the charge was 2-3 bars. The 12 volt battery was disconnected. Must have been rough seas, two of the straps holding it in the container were snapped. On this end I connected the battery and it started right up 2 bars 3rd blinking. I had a local electrician put a male plug on my pig tail for the modified OEM charger. Car seems just fine. We haven't taken it for a long ride yet. Having some trouble with the government and their new Customs Tariff Act 2012 which prohibits left hand drive vehicles. I am petitioning the government to waive the $12K NZD tariff because it is the only electric car in the country. They are really trying to be green and embrace renewable resources and solar. This could be a good example to all the tourist rental car places and government vehicles. I have sent a letter to a few Members of Parliament and the Prime Minister pleading my case. Sure I brought in a prohibited vehicle but it wasn't a SUV or corvette, it is an environmentally friendly electric car. No emissions or noise pollution on this beautiful island. Wish me luck, they decide my fate next week.

dakine said:

Sure I brought in a prohibited vehicle but it wasn't a SUV or corvette, it is an environmentally friendly electric car. No emissions or noise pollution on this beautiful island. Wish me luck, they decide my fate next week.

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If they make you ship it back, this could turn out to be a very expensive mistake

Did you know ahead of time that you were breaking the law?

Good luck!

Don

dakine, nice to hear from you as I had been wondering how your shipping adventure turned out. Glad to hear the car was undamaged. I didn't realize that you finally ended up leaving the batteries at 20% SOC, and I'm glad it worked. For those who don't remember, here's the series of posts starting back in May when dakine was preparing for his shipment:

http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=440

Did you have the Mitsu OEM EVSE converted by EVSEUpgrade? Glad that the connector switch is all it took.

All the best in dealing with the Island legislature - appealing to their 'green' side will hopefully prevail… and I wouldn't mention the Harley. How about offering to put in some type of solar photovoltaic installation (doesn't need to be large) in exchange for letting you keep the car there?

JoeS said:

Did you have the Mitsu OEM EVSE converted by EVSEUpgrade? Glad that the connector switch is all it took.

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Yes I had that done before I left. They have an option for a pigtail attachment which was helpful as I just needed the local plug extension put on that.

More than 3 months ago the iMiev was stuck going through customs here in Rarotonga. It is left hand drive and they are not allowed in this country. After posting a $500 bond with a promise of not to drive the thing then let me take possession. They told me I needed an exemption. I brought this to my lawyer the same day. He found out that there was a blanket ban on all left hand drive vehicles imposed in the 2012 Tariffs Act. It would be possible to pay $12,000 NZD and import the car, however it also didn't meet the requirement of being owned for more than a year previous to being imported, we bought it new. My lawyer and I petitioned customs to amend the concession in the law to allow me to import the vehicle because it was electric and fit the Cook Islands green policy. What they did was change the law so the Minister of Transport was allowed to issue exemptions to import at his discretion. Next hurdle was to petition the Minister of Transport to grant the exemption to import. After a few weeks and a letter to him explaining the green friendliness of the car being in line with the government's position on renewable energy etc. He granted our exemption, who was going to refuse the first and only EV car in the country? The next step was to get an exemption to operate from the police commissioner here. Well the Minister of the Police is also the Prime Minister, Henry Puna. He is very big on renewable energy and sustainability, he is the Minister of green energy. So same letter sent same result. The police granted us an exemption to operate meaning we could get the car registered and safety checked. All that took three months and $1,300 in lawyers fees. We were good to go! I took both exemptions to the customs, they released the car and gave me back my bond, the car was free! Straight away I went and got a registration, plate and warrant of fitness.
Feels great to zip around silently here on the small country roads in my electric car. Took a lot of doing but it is now a reality. Here is a picture of the iMiev with Cook Islands plates in front of the Ministry of Justice in Avarua

Congratulations on your persistence & achievement - you have paved the way & opened the doors for EVs
in your part of the world.

That's wonderful news!

There are many places in the world where an all electric car makes really good sense (even more so than they do everywhere else) and it sounds like the Cook Islands are a natural for this sort of thing - It wouldn't surprise me at all if your car doesn't start an 'EV revolution' there . . . . in just a couple years or so there may be dozens of them, thanks to your example

Congratulations to you - You took a big chance, but it's really paid off!

Don

This was a fascinating story. Very happy it all worked out. Thanks for sharing.

Now that it's there, do you get any attention? Anyone ask you about it?

iDriver said:

Now that it's there, do you get any attention? Anyone ask you about it?

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Some people look twice at it, but they don't know it is electric. It is a small island so people notice something new. The few people I have talked to about it seem to like the idea of electric cars here and are supportive of the idea of bringing more in. The local dealership wanted information about how much is cost and shipping etc. They may try to bring a few in, who really knows things move so slow here. I have been told to get in touch with the Prime Minister as he is very keen on Green and would want to take a picture with the car, along with taking credit for getting it in. People are surprised when I pass them on the road because they don't hear it coming. It has dealt with the poor roads and potholes here pretty well. Over all it is a good car for this island. I go two days without a charge. It is small so it fits in the small country roads.

I would think that importing iMiEV's from New Zealand would make even more sense. The shipment would be shorter/quicker, they would be an even smaller car than yours and already set up with the steering wheel on the correct (right) side . . . . plus, they would come with the 240 volt EVSE

Don

Don said:

I would think that importing iMiEV's from New Zealand would make even more sense.

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That's what I told the manager at the dealership.