Auckland electric vehicle drivers are now able to park and charge their batteries for free at Council owned carparks around the city.
Auckland Transport and electric vehicle charging provider, ChargeNet NZ, have formed a strategic partnership to install the first 27 of a network of 60 standard electric vehicle charging stations around Auckland.
The first stage will see six charging stations installed in Downtown, Fanshawe Street and Ronwood parking buildings, and three in Victoria Street and Civic parking buildings. All charging parks are located on either the ground or first level.
To use the chargers, EV owners will have to bring their own cables and create a ChargeNet account. Users can then monitor progress via the ChargeNet app, but normal parking fees will still apply.
Auckland Transport, which currently operates 20 Hyundai Ioniq EVs and two full-electric buses, was awarded $160,000 from the government’s EECA Low Emission Vehicles Contestable Fund for electric vehicle charging infrastructure around the city.
Chief Strategy Officer for Auckland Transport, Cynthia Gillepsie, said the Council is serious about reducing emissions and protecting Auckland's environment.
“Transport accounts for approximately 38 per cent of our city’s emissions," said Gillepsie.
"Providing EV charging infrastructure starts the journey on the encouragement of EV uptake in Auckland. This approach, along with a mode shift to public transport, has the potential to significantly reduce the current level of greenhouse gas emissions.”
ChargeNet NZ CEO, Steve West, says the strategic partnership demonstrates how local government transport providers and the private sector can work together to accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles.
“More than half the 8,000 electric vehicles registered in New Zealand are in the Auckland region. Now users can park, plug in and recharge with no worries and continue with their business while their car gets a top up,” said West.
“Building this user-friendly network in Auckland takes away the anxiety of batteries running low with the convenience now of recharging on the go."
To date, ChargeNet has installed 92 DC fast chargers and plans to have over 100 up an running by the end of 2018.
-Driven