Thirty minutes is not a lot of time, but then again, it kinda is. 

For many people, a spare half hour is the stuff of dreams. For EV drivers though, who need to charge on the go, it’s sort of a necessary luxury. While pumping petrol is faster and more familiar, charging really isn’t that much of a pain in the ass. But how long does it take? Z’s public EV charging network has a range of fast and ultra-fast chargers, which means you may be able to get about 100km of range from 8-13 minutes. The average use time on their network though is about 30 minutes. So what can you do with that time? Here are 50 suggestions.

1. Sit in your car and stare blankly ahead into the void (meditate). 

2. Take a nap. It’s scientifically proven that the ideal nap, one which leaves you feeling refreshed but not groggy, lasts between 20 and 30 minutes. 

3. Write a short story, poem or limerick inspired by your surroundings. Show no one.

4. Watch a small sparrow / flying around the forecourt / then write a haiku.

5. Listen to the Beatles’ third studio album, A Hard Day’s Night. It’s 30 minutes long.

6. Close all of the open apps on your phone.

7. Do some doom scrolling, then do #6 again.

8. Rather than doomscroll, catch up on the news via The Bulletin.

9. Got an EV charging neighbour parked up next to you? Strike up a convo, it’s good for you.

10. Have lunch. But keep it simple. You only have 30 minutes. Get a pie. 

11. Before that though, read The Spinoff’s ranking of Z pies to inform your choice. The winners will surprise you. As will steak and cheese’s place on the podium.

12. Take your chosen pie outside. Have a boot picnic.

13. Or a spoiler picnic.

14. After all that carry-on, go back into the store, because obviously you need a sweet treat after a savoury pie. Get lolly cake, actual lollies, a slice, or a gourmet banoffee muffin to finish.

15. Call your mum, dad or grandparent. I’m sure they’d appreciate it. 

16. Learn, record and post whichever TikTok dance is currently trending.

17. Play an intense game of I Spy. If you are alone, you will probably win.

18. Enter some radio sweepstakes. New Zealand does not have that many people, so your odds of winning are actually pretty good. And I have personally tested that statement. I’d never won a single radio comp before moving to New Zealand from the United States. Have won approximately seven since then.

19. Get really informed on what is happening in the world by watching every single episode of Now You Know. The most important news delivered in 60 seconds.

20. Clean out your car – I know there’s old receipts in that glovebox!

21. Wash your windscreen!

22. Do a 30-minute full body scan meditation and bliss out.

23. Write a letter to an old pal, and pop it in the next post box you find. 

24. Brush up on your te reo. There are a lot of good apps for this like Ka Piki. Download one in one minute. Then play for the remaining 29.

25. Get any drink your heart desires. A hot one, or a cold one, a matcha one, or my old faithful, the oat flat white. Z has them all.

26. Learn the NATO phonetic alphabet because you just never know when you might need it.

27. Scour Trade Me and Marketplace in the immediate area for a bargain. Then go pick it up.

28. Play a movie on your phone and pretend you’re at a drive-in.

29. Take a trip back in time by reading some physical media. Newspapers, magazines and such are still available at Z. If you’re lucky they might also have Sudoku, crossword, or puzzle books too. Relics from days and road trips gone by.

30. Clean out your emails and unsubscribe from any feel-bad junk.

31. Organise all the apps on your phone into little folders. You know you’ve been wanting to do this for ages. Now is the perfect time. Maybe add an app or two.

32. Equally, you’ve also been wanting to clean up your 65,000 iPhone photos. Challenge yourself to delete 500 in 30 minutes. It’s a drop in the ocean and you know you’ve got at least that many blurry ones of your dog.

33. Journal. Every single self-help book ever written says this is the way to your better self. But who has the time? You do. You have 30 minutes.

34. Get on Wikihow, learn how to change a tyre.

35. Walk 3,000 steps. Google tells me the average person can walk between 3,000 and 4,500 steps in 30 minutes at a brisk pace.

36. If you go walking while charging though, definitely monitor your session with Z App. You will get mean looks if you hold up other drivers!

37. Apologise profusely to the people you held up! If you don’t, you’ll have to go straight to EV jail as this is the highest breach of etiquette in that cultural universe. 

38. Read a short story.

39. Call that old pal you’ve been meaning to catch up with for ages.

40. Learn a new weird word and work out when you’re going to casually drop it into conversation to impress everyone you know. If you don’t know anyone, you’ll still impress yourself.

41. Find a nearby piece of grass. Take your shoes and socks off then stand on the grass, it feels nice.

42. Do one of these online happy walking videos and walk walk walk walk. 

43. Watch half an episode of The Chase (doesn’t matter which half).

44. Hop on Duolingo. Start learning a new language so you can say “I need to charge my EV” in several different dialects.

45. Begin a quest to memorise and list 2,065 decimal digits in order to beat Wei Qinru’s record. Unless you have photographic memory, this will likely take longer than 30 minutes but you have to get started somewhere.

46. Do your democratic duty and make a submission in an area that matters to you on parliament.nz.

47. Start planning your next road trip. Check out Z’s site locator to figure out where you can top up your EV.

48. Go to complete a New York Times mini-crossword, realise it’s behind a paywall now, write an email of complaint to the New York Times.

49. Register to vote.

50. Seems obvious but, go to the loo.