A country mayor will be forced to drive the council’s new electric car nearly 500km to Sydney after he was slammed for the controversial purchase.

The $54,000 Hyundai IONIQ was purchased by Wagga Wagga City Council just months after the council voted to overturn its decision to declare a climate emergency.

The car can only travel 280km before it runs out of battery. It then takes four hours to recharge.

After a feud erupted over whether it was a wise purchase for a country council, Councillor Paul Funnell successfully moved a motion to force Mayor Greg Conkey to drive the car to Sydney to prove its worth.

Councillor Funnell tells Steve Price it’s ridiculous the mayor let his ideology get in the way of pragmatism.

“These virtue signalling, climate emergency declaring people such as the mayor… have turned around and now they’ve bought this vehicle.

“This is not value for money.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview