Mythbusting: Can you drive Auckland to Wellington on one tank of fuel?

Wednesday, 17 June 2020

Driving down the North Island on one tank? Theoretically possible, but practically improbable.

As Covid-19 re-enters New Zealand through two women arriving from the UK, questions are being asked around how they got from Auckland to Wellington without encountering other people - which would seem to have ruled out any fuel stops.

Technically, the 643km haul between Auckland and Wellington can be done on one tank of fuel, but there are a lot of variables involved that can reduce in-car estimates.

Dr Ashley Bloomfield providing an update to the media after two new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) were discovered in NZ yesterday.

For example, running the air conditioning will suck more juice than normal and hills (of which there are plenty) significantly increase fuel consumption.

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Other auxiliary features, such as heated seats, put more pressure on the alternator to generate energy, which, in turn, asks more of the engine in order to keep the battery topped up.

In a nutshell, even if your car's fuel-consumption calculator suggests a maximum driving distance of about 700km, that is a theoretical maximum based on the car's current consumption when filled.

Petrol cars are getting more efficient, but the trip is still a tall order.

Diesel vehicles will have more of a chance of making it but, again, there are too many variables to confidently call it either way.

And we don't know what car the women were driving yet.

But what if they did stop for fuel at some stage?

Filling up is much easier to do without contact these days, thanks to paying at the pump, but there are a lot of stations between Auckland and Wellington, and narrowing down anything the women may have touched is a mammoth task.

Plus, the temptation for a Coke and a bag of chips is hard to resist for even the most diet-stringent among us, let alone a coffee or three along the way.

Director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield confirmed on Tuesday the pair were given special dispensation to leave isolation on June 13, to support grieving family after a parent's death in Wellington.

They were not tested for Covid-19 before being allowed to leave the Novotel in Auckland, but had complied with the terms of their special dispensation and underwent testing after completing the drive to Wellington.

The women are now in self-isolation in the Hutt Valley.