Wellington.Scoop
The Government is to pay half the cost of four “drive-through” fast-charge stations for buses at the Wellington Railway Station bus interchange. Four buses will be able to be charged simultaneously. The funding is for one of 20 projects being supported by the government to encourage the use of electric vehicles. The projects include electric mini-buses for Zealandia, to replace its diesel-powered shuttle service.

News from NZ Government
More electric vehicles will be hitting New Zealand’s highways, bus lanes and streets with funding announced by Energy and Resources Minister Megan Woods today. Dr Woods announced $3.74 million for 20 projects under the third round of the Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund, administered by the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA).

The projects will see Government funding matched or bettered by businesses.

“These exciting projects include a 58 tonne fully electric truck to be used by Coda in Hamilton to shuttle Fonterra’s dairy goods to the railway,” Dr Woods said.

“Projects like this are vital to show others in the heavy logistics and transport industry that electric trucks are not only viable but have very low running costs.”

Dr Woods said $1.7m of the funding would help fill gaps in the country’s charging infrastructure. Funding was also going towards tourism opportunities such as electric campervans.

“The projects we are funding show there’s an EV for almost every job or use in New Zealand, be it delivering fruit and veg or taking a holiday.”

Also announced was a Motor Industry Training Organisation project to develop a qualifications framework for mechanics working on electric vehicles.

The fund is one of a range of initiatives in the Government’s Electric Vehicles Programme, which has a target of doubling the numbers of electric vehicles every year to reach 64,000 by the end of 2021.

The fund offers up to 50% funding towards projects. Applicants must match or exceed the amounts granted. For this round recipients are contributing $4.30m. Projects are approved conditionally until contracts are prepared and signed.

Conditionally approved projects – Third Round
Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund

1. Qualifications framework
The Motor Industry Training Organisation (MITO) $95,000
The development of a qualifications framework for EV inspection, servicing and repair
MITO will develop a qualifications framework for technicians working on electric vehicles. Currently, there is no NZQA-registered qualification or national standard for this work. Having qualified EV technicians will help improve confidence that EVs can be correctly serviced, maintained and repaired in New Zealand.

2. Light vehicles
Evincible $263,450
EV courtesy cars for automotive workshops
EV Consulting and Project Management Services company, EVincible, will coordinate the rollout of a battery electric courtesy car and associated charging station for 25 automotive workshops. This will give customers an opportunity to test drive an EV while their car is being repaired or serviced. The project will also enable automotive workshops to increase familiarity and develop EV servicing skills through training modules developed by co-applicant AECS Limited for upskilling automotive workshop technicians.

3. Heavy vehicles
CODA Group $500,000
Electric freight shuttle
Freight optimisation company CODA, in partnership with Zero Emission Vehicles Ltd and Bay Dairy Ltd, will design and manufacture an electric truck to shuttle dairy products from the Fonterra Te Rapa dairy factory to the Fonterra Crawford Street freight hub in Hamilton. With a laden weight of 58 tonnes the shuttle will operate 7 days a week during peak season. Using this electric truck will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 71 tonnes per year. It has significant demonstration potential for the heavy logistics and transport industry.

4. Charging/heavy vehicles
Tranzit Group $397,500
Installation of permanent fast charge unit
Tranzit proposes to invest in permanent “drive through” opportunity fast charge stations for buses at the Wellington Railway Station bus interchange. Four buses will be able to be charged simultaneously. Tranzit, supported by Greater Wellington Regional Council, is introducing 10 battery electric buses to central Wellington routes mid-2018, with a further 22 electric buses over the following three years. This technology will enable Tranzit to operate the electric buses on up to six additional routes to those initially planned.

5. Vans
Tourism Holdings $402,000
Accelerating low emission motorhome availability and charging infrastructure
Tourism Holdings will convert an electric van into a campervan, invest in charging equipment working with holiday parks, and develop dedicated travel itineraries with charging stations at 100km intervals. Beyond this project they aim to have 20 electric campervans on the road within one year.

6. Vans
Zealandia Karori Sanctuary Trust $118,137
Introducing fully electric passenger mini-buses
Zealandia, a fully-fenced urban ecosanctuary in Wellington, operates diesel fuelled visitor shuttles between the sanctuary and the city centre on 364 days each year. Replacing the diesel buses with electric shuttle buses will afford a highly visible showcase of the suitability of EVs as passenger shuttles, and contribute to Zealandia’ commitment to cut carbon emissions.

7. Vans
Kaitake Farm $11,693
100% Electrically Delivered Vegetables
Kaitake Farm intends to purchase an electric van for delivering organic vegetables in the Taranaki area, to showcase the suitability of electric vans for such tasks in the region whilst operating from a rural base.

8. Light vehicles
Ecosystems Consultants Ltd $88,583
Flip the Fleet: Demonstrating performance and increasing visibility of EVs to prospective purchasers
Flip the Fleet draws on data from hundreds of EV owners from throughout New Zealand. Its software instantly reports national data such as distances travelled, efficiency (km/kWh) and battery ‘State of Health’, to learn about how EVs are used in practice. Funding will be used to make it easier for people to sign-up and contribute data, implement improvements to the database, automate data collection, and share the lessons learnt from existing EV owners with prospective EV buyers.

9. Light vehicles
Ohomairangi Trust $75,000
Use of electric cars in non-governmental community support services
Auckland’s Ohomairangi Trust will buy six EVs for its teachers, therapists and specialists to use visiting whanau. This will showcase the suitability of EVs to the public and other NGOs.

10. Light vehicles
Kerikeri Village Trust $67,250
Kerikeri EV Network for Seniors
The retirement village will buy four EVs to establish a car share operation for use by residents and staff and install a DC fast charging unit in Kerikeri which the public could also use. Shared EVs make sense for retirement village residents who typically travel short distances and who will no longer need to own and maintain an often underused petrol car. The project has demonstration potential for a fast growing sector.

11. Charging
Foodstuffs North Island $427,937
EV fast charger installation project
Foodstuffs North Island Ltd is a regional cooperative that supplies the PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square supermarkets in the North Island. This project aims to ‘plug the gaps’ in the North Island fast charging infrastructure and will see a fast charger installed at 15 supermarket locations including Kawerau, Matamata, National Park, and Pirongia.

12. Charging
Foodstuffs South Island $399,575
EV fast charger installation project
Foodstuffs South Island Ltd is a regional cooperative that supplies the PAK’nSAVE, New World and Four Square supermarkets, as well as other convenience store groups in the South Island. This project aims to ‘plug the gaps’ in the current fast charging network and will see a fast charger installed at 14 supermarket locations, including Hokitika, Motueka, Westport, Reefton and Blenheim.

13. Charging
NZ Golf $249,975
Energising sport
NZ Golf and Chargemaster will work with 20 golf courses nationwide to install medium speed charging stations. These will be available to the public, not just club members. This project will assist in increasing the coverage of charging infrastructure in various areas.

14. Charging
The Lines Company Limited $215,880
An EV friendly King Country
The electricity network company will deploy approximately 100 cloud-connected, metered medium speed charging units at motels and hotels throughout the King Country. This will assist in the establishment of a publicly accessible charging network for tourism in a region with significant gaps in charging coverage.

15. Charging
WEL Networks $160,000
Expansion of charging facilities in the Waikato region
WEL Networks will install a 50kW DC fast charge station in Hamilton, and five slow charging stations in association with Progressive Enterprises (Countdown supermarkets) in the Waikato region.

16. Charging
South Taranaki District Council $96,000
Empowering Taranaki – Installation of three fast chargers along SH3 and SH45 for regional and interregional EV access
The South Taranaki District Council, partnering with Stratford District Council and ChargeNet, will install DC fast charging stations in Stratford, Opunake and Waverly, creating a network of charging infrastructure around Mt Taranaki. This will fill key gaps on the secondary road network in that area.

17. Charging
Fisher and Paykel Healthcare $72,500
EV Transition for staff
The company will install 74 EV slow chargers and two medium speed DC chargers to encourage staff to purchase EVs. Overseas evidence shows that employees who can charge at work are significantly more likely to buy an EV. The DC chargers will also be available to visitors. The proposed large scale installation of charging units will show other New Zealand companies what initiatives are possible to encourage EV uptake.

18. Charging
Wilson Parking NZ $60,622
Utilising parking to enable EV networks in New Zealand
Wilson Parking will install 34 slow charging stations capable of charging 46 EVs at Wilson owned and operated sites to support mainstream uptake of EVs in New Zealand. The majority of sites will be in Auckland, with a smaller number installed in Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

19. Charging
Counties Power Limited $30,000
EV Fast Charging
Counties Power will install a 50kW DC fast charge station in Waiuku, an area of high growth potential southwest of Auckland, and a current gap in charging station coverage.

20. Charging
Cloudy Bay Vineyards $10,000
Provision of a four station EV charging infrastructure at Cloudy Bay Vineyards
Cloudy Bay Vineyards intends to install four slow EV charging stations at its vineyard in Blenheim, providing visibility of EV technology to over 30,000 visitors per year. The charging facility will be available to the public.

https://www.eeca.govt.nz/funding-and-support/electric-vehicles-programme/
www.electricvehicles.govt.nz